


Olly Olly Oxenfree

by deepestfathoms



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Aftermath of Possession, Angst and Feels, Anne is a weasel, Demonic Possession, Dissociation, Fridge Horror, Gen, Ghosts, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Kitty is just a Babey, Rip to Cleves, Sibling Bonding, Step-siblings, Survival Horror, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop, it’s implied that Jane and Bessie are gay and married but it’s not a main plot point at all so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22770895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepestfathoms/pseuds/deepestfathoms
Summary: How to bond with your new step-sister? Getting trapped on an island might be one way.(A fic based on the game OXENFREE)
Relationships: Catherine of Aragon/María de Salinas
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. ask a man about a dog

“It used to be a military base! Well…it used to be a ranching thing, then it turned into a military thing, then it became a bird thing and museum and- whatever! Henry Fonda found a station here for a bit. Unless that’s wrong…”

“Who’s Henry Fonda?”

“And around Christmas time, this little breakfast place used to sell these AMAZING polar bear sugar cookies! MAN, _those_ were good! But then they had to go and change the recipe and ruin it…. Joan, hey? Still with us?”

Joan blinked and looked up from the wine-dark waves lapping at the side of the ferry. She turned, feeling the sensation of pins and needles spreading up her arm thanks to how long she had been leaning against the guard rail, and faced the two girls standing a few feet away from her.

The first was familiar- she was around her height, pale, and had her hair done up in magnificent spacebuns that just screamed that her personality was eccentric. She was grinning like a mischievous gremlin- or maybe a raccoon, to be more realistic, however “monkey” jumped out at Joan, too.

The second was less familiar- very tall, dark skin, and her hair done in a way that would make Joan’s head hurt if she attempted it with her own. At first glances, this girl gave off a bookish appearance, but she seems more extroverted than Joan had been expecting, probably because of the beanie she was wearing (it was most likely just there because of the cold). Still, the image of an owl still remained.

“Yeah, sorry,” She finally said, learning how to speak and enunciate again. She pulled her grey coat closer around her. “My mind drifted for a second.”

Anne scanned her for a moment. Despite being outlandish and wild, she still worried over her friends when she thought something was wrong. That’s one of the many things Joan liked about her.

After the frisk with her eyes, she nodded, then wheeled around on her heels so she would be facing the other two.

“So, you’re all moved in?” She asked.

“Uh— not- not really.” The second girl answered. “I just got in this morning.”

“And how did her mum meet your mum again?” Anne continued with the questioning.

The girl laughed slightly. “They met on vacation in Scotland. She got lost in a— actually, I’m not even gonna tell this story.”

“Uhh, yes, please don’t,” Joan jumped back in. “We don’t need to relive their meet-cute anymore than we have to.”

The waves of the ocean jars the boat slightly. Joan doesn’t miss the way the dark-skinned girl clenches one hand on the guard rail. Anne, however, doesn’t even stumble as she makes her way to the deck to look out on the nearby island.

“And you guys just met tonight?” She asked.

“Yeah,” The girl swiveled around to keep Anne in her sights. “I was, umm… Out of school and the time just had never worked out, so…”

“And what does that make you, then?”

Joan and the girl exchange looks, blinking. They both turn back to Anne, whose eyebrows are raised in interest. That gremlin side of her was coming out strong.

“A, uh…” The girl uses her free hand to scratch her head. “A second cousin?”

“She’s my step-sister.” Joan said cooly. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the girl smile at her slightly.

“Oh yeah,” Anne laughed. “I forgot that was even a thing!”

Once again Joan and the girl give each other glances. Joan notes how she seems more relaxed after her step-sister statement, which makes her oddly happy.

“Well, you seem cool!” Anne began again, “Cool girl, cool hat…you get a cool new sibling living right in your house!” She smirks, “Sharing your toothbrush…wearing your clothes…”

“No, that’s-” Joan’s voice falters. She hears the girl snort into her hand. “That’s the weird part. Don’t make it weird, Anne! Getting a new sister isn’t like- like getting a puppy or something.”

“No, yeah, it’s been totally bizarre.” The girl said. “But, for the record,” She looks at Joan, “I don’t consider you to be a pet.”

Those words are left awkwardly hanging in the air before the waves seem to wash them away with another bob to the boat. The girl clenches her hand on the railing again, and uses the other to straighten her beanie, which the wind had been trying to rip right off of her head.

“So…” She started. “How did you two meet?”

“Oh, from way back when! Like, Paleozoic! Grade school era!” Anne said enthusiastically. “Young enough that I’ve seen her naked in a bathtub and it wasn’t sexual at all. I mean, we both looked like little skinned potato blobs-”

“Ahhh, Anne!!” Joan squealed. She could feel her ears flaming red. The girl at her side gave a laugh. “Why are you even talking about that?!”

“It’s humorous!” Anne giggled. Before she could go on and possibly embarrass Joan again, a voice on the ferry’s loudspeaker speaks up.

_“PASSENGERS, WE WILL BE ARRIVING SOON. CHECK UNDER YOUR SEAT TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVEN’T LEFT ANY OF YOUR PERSONAL BELONGINGS.”_

And, as it did so, Anne repeated the speech in a bored, stoic voice.

“How do you-?” Joan tilted her head.

“It’s a recording. They always play it.” Anne tells her before she could even finish. “Oh!” A new idea has already popped into her head. “We should get a picture! All of us!”

“Sure, why not.” Joan shrugged. “Come on, Cath.”

The girl nodded and finally pried her hand loose from the guard rail. They both walked over to Anne, who held up her phone and snapped a photo of all of them.

“There, great!” Anne beamed. “Also…it’s Catherine, right?”

“Yeah,” The girl nodded. “But just call me Cathy.”

“Cool! Oh, hey, Joan! You brought the radio, right?”

“Of course,” Joan said, then pulled a small, portable radio out of her pocket. “What’s it for, exactly?” She craned her head around to look at Cathy, “She sent me around twenty messages in all caps to bring this thing.”

Cathy laughed.

“You’ll see,” Anne said. “Trust me, it’ll be cool!”

A horn blares as the mist rolling over the ocean in its own waves of white parted so they could see an island coming up. The ferry begins to slow before coming to a halt at the docks. Anne eagerly bounced off, followed by Joan and Cathy.

“Smell the clean air, boys and girls! Err- Girls! This ain’t city livin’.” Anne said, “So, the others should be up and around the bend and…”

“Actually-” Cathy started abruptly. “I don’t mean to break us up already but- Anne, can I have a moment with Joan?”

“Uhh-” Anne blinked. “Really? I-”

“Is something wrong?” Joan looked up at Cathy- it was only then that she realized how tall the older girl really was. “What is it?”

“Nothing’s wrong, nothing’s wrong,” Cathy said, sensing her worry. “It’ll take, like, two minutes. Super fast.”

“I really don’t want to go up by myself-”

“No, I need to hear this, Anne. We’ll meet you up ahead, okay?” Joan said.

Anne’s mouth hung half open for a moment before she blinked and scratched her head.

“Umm- Alright. This is a weird way to start out…splitting up…” She said as she began walking away. Soon, she was out of sight, shrouded by the dark fog, and only the sound of the waves lapping the rocky shore was left behind.

But only for a moment.

“Listen,” Cathy started. She looked sheepish. “I just wanted to catch you ahead of time and say you’ve been…cool…about everything. And I guess just for me I’ve- you know, I’ve never moved around anywhere, and getting a new family during it all feels like I’m skipping the training wheels.” She pauses, then hurried to continue, thinking that that was a bad place to stop. “Not that it’s bad it anything! You and your mum have been great.”

“Eh, we’ll make do.” Joan said, shrugging her shoulders to try and mask her own anxiety with the whole thing. “Lemons, lemonade- however that goes.”

“An optimist.” Cathy said bitterly. “Oh, Christ.” She laughed. Joan laughs, too.

It feels nice to laugh with a sister.

“Oh, and thanks for setting up the attic for me. It’s cool how it’s like a little bedroom!”

(It feels nice to laugh with a sister _again_ )

“That was, uhh-”

A pang of pain stabs right into Joan’s heart, wrenching it until it was mush in her chest. She glances wryly at the dark ocean water nearby and then can’t pry her eyes away. If she squints, she swore she could see a flailing figure…

“Joan?”

Cathy’s voice cut through the roaring waves in her ears.

“That was Maria’s room.” Joan whispered.

_Breathe_. She told herself, _Like mum taught you. In five, hold three, out five… Breathe._

“There, uh-” She found her voice again. “There wasn’t that much to set up.”

Cathy’s hands, which had been on Joan’s shoulders to steady her, pulled back. They clench as she seemed to internally cringe for what she had accidentally made her new step-sister say.

“Oh. Oh, man. I’m so sorry.” She said. “I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

“It’s okay,” Joan said quickly, “You didn’t know.”

An awkward silence came between them. Instead of looking at the other, they both were scanning the island.

The only thing on the “bottom level” of the island was the docks, some cars, a bookstore, and a large tunnel that was closed off. Once the sisters decided to head back to Anne, they walked up some stone steps planted into the earth and onto the “second level”, where a stone statue of a wave and bird, an antique store, and a café stood. They passed these buildings and met up with Anne after a short hike up a small hill.

“Hello, kids!” Anne chirped, seemingly over her temporary exile. “Listen, the others should be close, so let’s hurry it up. And, as we hightail it, I’ll give you a speed-read of Edward’s Island!” She pauses, then leaned in, whispering, “That’s where we’re at.”

“I know.”

“We got that.”

“Good! Good!” Anne trotted the rest of the way up the hill. “This is a tourist trap with shops and a beach! Nobody lives here except for some geriatric named Mrs. Lee. But, with God as my witness, I will never mention her or any other old person tonight ever again! We are here to drink and be stupid.”

It seemed that their first “stupid act” was using a dumpster to jump a fence because Anne went on to tell them they were not allowed there after dark.

The three of them made their way down a mountainside path, chatting idly and getting to know each other better on Cathy’s part, before a slick, honey-laced voice chimed through the air.

“Reginald! I hear you over there!”

“H-hey, guys!” Anne smiles sheepishly, hopping down from a ledge to get down.

Two more girls now stood before them. One was significantly older than all of them. She had dark skin and curly brown hair that framed her unblemished face perfectly. The other girl was younger than Joan, with brown hair dyed pink at the tips and eyes like a kitten.

“Hey,” Joan waved slightly.

“We started a fire down at the beach.” Said the older girl. “But Kitty here wanted to play beach nanny.”

“I just wanted to make sure they got here before it was completely dark.” The younger girl said.

The older chuckled then looked over at the stranger in the group of three. “Who are you?”

“I’m Cathy.”

“That’s Cathy.” Anne said helpfully. “She’s Joan’s new, fresh-as-a-daisy step-sister! Cathy, that’s Katherine and Catherine. Confusing, right? Three girls with the same name! Except this little one goes by Kitty- she’s my cousin, actually- and the tall one goes by Catalina. Because she’s Spanish…or something.”

“Wait wait wait- Step-sister?” Catalina said. Joan just barely managed to bite back a groan of annoyance at her upcoming attitude. “How does that even work?”

“Her mum married my mum, so…law.” Joan said.

“Well, this is happening, now. This is a thing that is happening.” Catalina said, exasperated. She began walking down the path that led to the beach. “Where’s everybody else?”

“Maud had that thing and then Jane Parker-”

“We’re it.” Joan said for Anne.

“What.” Catalina momentarily swiveled her head around to analyze the whole group. Then, she gave a biting laugh. “Oh my god! It’s just Anne, Joan, and the new step-sister!”

“Yeah, we took the last ferry.” Anne said.

“Aren’t you guys friends?”

Everyone looked at Cathy. Then they exchanged scattered glances.

Catalina began leading again, marching her way down to the beach.

“I’m friends with Kitty,” She said. The younger girl gave a gleeful smile at that. “And I’m downgrading Anne to a creepy neighbor.”

“I’ll take it!” Anne said.

“And I just met you.”

“Hey!” Joan barked, “What about me?”

“What about you?”

Joan clenched her jaw, then sighed. She feels Cathy gently nudge her in a friendly way and give her a warm smile as if to say, _“I’m your friend.”_

Joan smiles back.

The five teenagers get down to the beach, where there was, in fact, a bonfire set up, along with some towels and a cooler. Joan hopes nobody saw the way she nervously glanced at the water.

“So… what’s the thing to do here?” Cathy asked, scanning the area.

“Whatever,” Kitty shrugged. She plops herself down by the fire and smiled at Catalina when she joined her.

“Hey, where does that old woman live?” Cathy asked another question.

“You mean Maggie Lee? She’s dead.” Catalina answered.

“What?” Anne snapped her head over to her.

“Yup. Keeled over three days ago. It was all over the news.” Catalina said. “And to answer your previous question, Cathy, the ‘thing to do’ is lay on the beach and drink until you can’t remember where your are.”

“And,” Kitty piped up, steering the topic away from very illegal underage drinking. “Sometimes play Truth or Slap!”

“Yeah!” Anne perked up. “Let’s play that! We can inaugurate Cathy. Ease her into the festivities.”

“Truth or Slap?” Joan asked stupidly, which prompts Anne to began to explain how it was like Truth or Dare except you just ask questions and get slapped if you’re lying about your answer.

“It’s a good getting to know each other game!” Anne concluded. “I’ll go first!” She turns to Joan with a smirk, “Joan!”

“Uh oh,” Cathy laughed.

“Lay it on me.” Joan smirked back.

“Okay. Kiss, Screw, Kill: Me, Kitty, and Catalina!”

“What?!” Kitty yelped.

“No!” Catalina barked.

“Calm down! Besides, I can’t include Cathy! They’re siblings!”

“Okay, okay… I’d probably marry you, Anne. I’ve known you the longest. Not a lot of surprises!” Joan said.

“Ha! Stay-at-home-wife!”

“Then I’d screw Catalina. Obviously.”

Anne laughed loudly. “‘Obviously’! Not gonna call her out on that?”

“No, I believe her.” Catalina said. “Look at me.”

“And that means you would smother poor little Kitty with a pillow,” Anne said, clutching her heart with one hand and wiping away an imaginary tear with the other.

“Oh shit- Sorry, Kit! It just worked out that way, I swear!” Joan said.

“It’s fine,” Kitty shrugged before snuggling up closer to Catalina’s side.

“So, Joan’s turn now?” Cathy asked.

“Right,” Anne nodded.

“Okay…Uhh…Kitty! Have you ever…peed in a swimming pool?”

Both Anne and Cathy erupt into laughter. Catalina snorts and shook her head, clearly not surprised. Kitty wrinkled her nose.

“Ugh, no!”

“Nice question,” Catalina snickered. “I wanna go now. Joan. You got a new sister. Pretty exciting. I’m sure Cathy is pretty excited, too. Or maybe ‘excited’ isn’t the word. Maybe a little unsure…overwhelmed…”

“No, I’m- I’m fine. I’m fine.” Cathy said.

“Yeah, see, she’s-” Joan shook her head. “What’s the question?”

Catalina took a sip of the beer she’s holding, then looked Joan directly into the eye and asked, “Why’d your mum finally decide to get married?”

Joan’s heart twisted.

“Just so Cathy can hear it from you.”

Kitty and Anne immediately began giving each other anxious looks. Cathy appears to be a little shocked until she calms her expression.

“Catalina, I don’t care why her mum-”

“You know why.” Joan said. Her eyes are dark, just like the nearby water. Just like the water on that- “Maria- _died_ and it broke everything and she just needed someone there to try and pick up the pieces. The end.”

(Water roars in her ears- water rushes down her throat- water chokes her and holds her and consumes her until- until- until-)

(She’s screaming so _loud_ S _O LOUD WHY WON’T ANYONE HELP WHY IS SHE SLIPPING AWAY **SOMEBODY HELP-**_ )

“Well, now you know, Cathy. Don’t die and everything will be fine.” Catalina said.

Once again, there was a tense silence. Anne breaks it by saying she wanted to go check out the nearby caves, which Cathy and Joan agree to.

One quick hop over a fence (and a weed brownie eaten by Anne) later, the three of them find themselves inside of a large cave with three small rock piles set up.

“So, what you gotta do is stand right here and tune your radio until you find a ‘signal’.” Anne explained. “That’s why we brought it.”

Joan nodded and took the radio out. She began to rotate the little dial around, mainly getting plain static for a few minutes before a strange sound cut through the white noise.

Well, there was that and an ominous blue flickering from a crevice in the cave wall.

“Holy crap!” Cathy yelped.

“It worked!” Anne cried. “That was so cool! Do it again!”

Joan nodded and walked over to the next pile, tuning in her radio. Once again, the thing sputters loudly and the nearby light flashes.

“This is so cool!” Cathy exclaimed.

“I know!” Joan beamed excitedly at her.

“Do the last one, Jo!”

“I will! I will!”

And she does.

And, like the last two times, the sound returns, but this time more garbled and grating.

“Agh-” Cathy winced. She sees Joan press a hand to her ear. “It sounds so…”

“It sounds, _agh_ -” Joan’s temples pulsate. She pulls her hand back, surprised to see no blood because she swore her eardrums ruptured. “It sounds, like… _painful_.”

A sound returns- however, this one was different, like a staticky moaning noise. Almost…human.

“There’s something in there.” Cathy said, walking over to the crack in the cave wall.

“Yeah, I see it, too.” Joan agreed.

“I’m gonna go check it out.” Cathy suddenly said. A moment later, she’s gone.

“Wh- That’s such a bad idea!” Anne cried.

“Cathy! Wait up!”

“WAIT UP?!” Anne looked at Joan like she was insane.

“I’ll be fine,” Joan assured her friend. “Wait here.”

With that, she slips in through the crack.

Immediately, the feeling of claustrophobia embraces her as the passageway was a lot longer than she had been expecting. She shuffles awkwardly through the tight space, feeling the cold, biting stone chafe into either sides of her. She could barely even breathe completely because the rock pressed against her chest, almost like it was trying to suffocate and trap her.

Right as she was about to panic, or maybe turn back, Joan pops out and into a large tunnel. It’s lit up by bioluminescent moss, but it’s far too bright, even with the glowing plants…

“Cathy?” She called out as she began to walk down the passageway. “Cathy, where are you?!”

No answer.

Not even an echo.

Chills ran up and down Joan’s spine. The feeling of eyes bearing down on her followed her through every twist and turn she took in that cave, but whenever she turned around, there was nobody there.

“Cathy?” Joan said again, this time more frantic. “Cathy, are you okay? Can you, like, scream or something?”

Nothing.

“Cathy?”

A shadow stretches across the jagged, rocky ground.

“Cathy!”

“AH!!”

Cathy leapt backwards as Joan just about charged her like an angry (but fuzzy) little lamb. She put a hand on her chest, reintroducing her lungs to oxygen as Joan tears strips off of her.

“What were you thinking?!” Joan barked. “I was so worried! I thought you, like- like died or something! Do you know what that would have done to me? How would I explain that to mum? Your mum- my mum- both!!”

“Okay, okay, I get it! You’re mad!” Cathy held her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I just- I thought I heard something down here. A voice.”

Like that, Joan’s rage vanishes. Cathy wished she had led in with the whole voice thing.

“A voice?” Joan tilted her head like a confused puppy (or a lamb).

“Yeah.” Cathy turned and began walking further into the cave. “It was so…weird…”

Cathy’s voice trailed and died off as she and her sister ducked under an overhand and passed into a large cavern filled with huge crystals. An underground lake day in the middle, glistening in an unknown light source. The only ruddy-looking thing in that beautiful space was a rusty locker on the opposite of the shore.

“Oh my god,” Joan whispered.

“Holy- Joan,” Cathy grabbed and shook Joan’s elbow frantically. “Do you see that?!”

Joan blinked and looked up. It didn’t take long for her to realize what ‘that’ was.

A floating triangle.

A fucking floating, spinning triangle in the middle of the air.

“It- it must be some kind of…reflection…a rainbow…” Cathy was at a loss for words. “Those-those are things, right? Cave…triangle rainbows.”

“Sure,” Joan said slowly. “Let’s go with that.”

“I think this may be caused by when you ‘tuned in’ back at the beach.” Cathy said. “Maybe try it again?”

Joan glanced up at her, then nodded and took out her radio. She began to twist the dial until the triangle in the air shuddered and started to pulsate. A small, iridescent line stretched out from one of the tips.

“Oh- my god.” Cathy whispered. “Is this— are you— is this— YOU? Are you doing this?”

“Uhh- I-I think?” Joan stammered before tuning in again.

The line grew longer until it formed a second triangle. Joan felt a beating against her brain, almost like a second pulse that wasn’t hers and, by the way Cathy winced at her side, her sister felt it, too.

“I can’t even, like— what is— what?!”

“I-I know! I know!” Joan cried. She tuned in one last time and-

-and the triangle was complete.

Within the glowing shape, all there was was murky green. It was shuddering in the air, pulsating visible red vibrations.

“What the…”

“…hell…” Cathy finished for her sister.

̵̥͍̮̯̙́̈́́͆͋ ̵̧̬͓̆̈́̒͋“̶̼̈́̎̏H̵͖̓̒̅ͅę̴̥̥͇̌͊̏l̴̲̟̼̜̭͝l̸̛̜̩̖͚̜͝ő̷̞̎̓.̶̪̭͕̊̔̒ ̶̡̧̮̿D̸͓̍ȩ̵̻̰̖̲͐͋̄̈́͝å̴̲̽͝͝ͅṟ̵̟̐̀͗̽̕.̸̢̘͕͔̲̄͂͛ ̶͚̥͉̤̊̎̌͑͠T̶̪̏ê̶̢̯̩̻l̶̛̉̎͜ĺ̶͈̻̯̱̓̈́̕̚ ̴͎͍̆̀̐̍̀è̸̛̥̀̈́̈́v̶̩̯̯͠e̷̮͌̕͜r̷̤̍̉͝y̵̠̰̙͔̏ọ̵̠̠͗ͅn̶̢̯̥̎͜e̶̻̘̰̯̳̾̌́͝ ̸̛̘̪̬̤ȟ̴̨̢͎̺͆e̸̢̺̹͆̎ͅl̷̢̜͝ĺ̵̞͖̬͙̃͆̋͜͝ö̸̬́̊̄.̴͓̱̝͚̗̔̀”̶̰̝̠͓͋̂̐ Spoke an unknown garbled voice. It sounded as if snippets from radio programs were ripped out of their channels and used to form the words. There were tons of people talking at once, tons of voices. And, when it- they- speak, the pounding in Joan’s brain beat in time with each word.

“H-hello?” Joan said. She glances anxiously at Cathy, who is stunned into silence.

̵̨̠͍̄͛ ̶̱͆̀̾͂̂“̵͕̃͝S̴̟̰̊͌̕͜l̶̥̬̃̿ë̷͇́̏̈́̇́e̷͍͎͚̎p̷͕̼̠͂̾̀̑ȳ̸̦́ ̶̩̔͋̃t̵̬̞͉͍͆̐̓͘ĭ̶̢͓͇̇̉̎͝ṃ̴̡͕̔̏̎̑͜͝ḛ̵̙͉̘̿̃̀͊̓ ̴̢̫͈̟̓̒͠ͅg̵̣͂̿ͅą̵̞̙̺̈́̇̿l̴̥̰͇̠̇̃.̸͔̏ ̸̟̗̺̋͛́̑̕E̶͙̙̫̠̮̾̄v̷̗̯̯͙́͒͛͛̑ē̵̢̧͉̻͌͝ȑ̸̨̖͜ỵ̷͕̳̮͒́͊̑̔t̵̬̩̭̤͖̓̍̍͋h̷̙̤̼͑̾͜ï̸̻͇͊͜n̵͎̈́g̸̢̤̻̝̕͜ ̵̡̛̼͉̒͝f̶̙̌͠i̷̯͂n̷̗̪͆e̷̩̪̫̺̒̿̔ͅ.̴̗͒́͜ ̵̨̛̟̻̄̓͝͠H̷̢̳̪̣̓̋ő̷̧p̴̧͕͕̗̯̂e̷̘̬̯̿̀͗ ̸̲͍̟̞̱̈́̌͊͝t̷̫͆̈́͆̓̆h̶̩͎̠̜̎̐͝i̶̠̳͒͗̔̽ǹ̸̹̻̣͍̀̽̚g̵̯͇̗̋s̷̢̡̞̖̾̀̕ ̴̳̲̾͋̏a̸̡̼͍̓̑r̶̫̪̮͖̾̍͋̂̇e̶͖̯͖̹̓̌́ͅ ̵̭̪͔̬̟͐͌̒̈̕s̶̭͇̞̬͐͑͂a̶̖͎̣̓̆͆̽͠m̸̫̙̺̈́ḙ̵̢̥͖̓͂͐̀̚͜.̸̢͓̖̓̋͊ ̴̭̞͓̺̱̔̾͒̾D̴̳͚̅͊́͒ŏ̵͖̫̥͚́̐͆n̵̢͔̭̬̂’̴͇̼̔͑t̶̫͑ ̴̛̹̹ḱ̵̡͎̄n̴͖̓̔͝ő̷̺͓̬̺͌̍w̸̡̥̖̼͋̽̌ ̸̱͓̞̀̈́͌͗̚ḯ̵̫̫̘f̸̡̫̝̖͊̈ ̸̗̠͉̖̹͊̎͝ļ̵̱͗̃͐͆͘e̴̡̡̲̬̙̓̄̑͝ȃ̷͓̜̈ͅv̷̡̠͇̠̀e̴̯̯̞̜̖̕ ̴̢̬̮͂̐̈́͘̚i̷̩̰͇̐̌͒s̴̬̥̫̤̒ ̸̘̝̬͑͜p̸̦̺̕ọ̶̟͕̞̱̈͠s̵̢͙̩͈̩͒̕s̵̼̍̈́̑͘i̴͚̠̖̯͗̓͝b̵͔̰̆͝l̷̨͍̝̻̍́͑̊͗ȩ̶̞̻͗́͋͘.̶̡͕͚̱̭̌͝”̷̩̳̼͍̓̀͠͠ Said the voices.

“This…is insane.” Cathy breathed out. Her hand takes Joan’s and squeezes it tightly, reassuringly.

̴̫̲̦̬̐̓̍̕ ̴͎̓̏̀̄͝“̵̝̬̝͖̩͊̂L̴̠͚̐̑̅̿͝ī̶͇̦͌͑s̷̤͈̩̈́͗̇̇̽t̷̨̺̰̄̌̇͘ͅe̵͙͊̃n̶̟̝͙̎̋̒̾̈́.̴̯̝̋̈̍͝ ̸̨̦͍̰͇̅̽B̵̗͙̝͋̍͜ò̶̙̺͙b̴͚̯̻̄͊̔͠ ̷̙̫̲̣̙̈́̑͊̚͝t̸̞̬̜̰̉̐͝ä̴̝̥̗́̎i̸̡̔̎l̷̝͇̳̩̮̓.̶͙̭͓̏́ ̷̻̣͓̽̓̋͒S̶̖͂̄h̵͕̘͗ă̴̗̱̤͙͙̆̒͝v̴͙͓͉̗̎͊ͅė̷̟̪̦ ̵̻̙̱̠̿̈́̈́ṯ̵̥͗́́͘͜ã̴̼̰͚̞̕͝ȋ̴̲̝̘͖̟̉͌̀ľ̷̪̜͕̜͍̈́̐͋͠.̴̢͎̼͛̓͜͠ ̵̛̘̉̅͠Ṩ̷̝̉̍l̵̝̘̞̼͛͌̈́͊ẹ̵̐̂̍͆͗e̵̥̔̅̏̓́͜p̶͈̜͈͍̂̌͜y̸̟̖͔̣̕ ̸͎͙̖̞͗̈̍̚t̸̗̤̻̏ỉ̴͔̅̇m̷̨͖̠̍ͅḛ̵̛ͅ ̸̡̱̰̲͕̋̉̾̾g̷͈̀͠a̴̛̛̠̒l̵͖̹̅̌͝.̴͉̥̫͖͆͑̅͜”̷͉͑̉͆͠ ̵̞̦̥̄̓͂̀ Said the voices. “̴̢̰̗̯̎́̀̔͒͜Ỉ̶͙͔̖̃ś̶̖̫̣̥̿̔̎.̵̲͊̽͝ ̷̻̭̯̬͍͐̕͘L̷̮̜͖̯̀é̸̬̬̓͗ͅå̶̖͔̈v̷̳̖͖̈́e̸̖̪̿̏͝.̴͎͍̫̪̿ͅ ̵̢͔̥̗̥̀̀̊̽͝P̷̖̞͐ọ̶̏̾̕s̶̖͒͒̍̆š̵̝̭͓̌̏i̵̖͂b̴̛̜͂̀͝l̸̖̑͑͋͛e̵͓͓͑͑̐.̶̥̟̦̳̆̓͠”̶̱̇͊̍

Joan swallowed thickly. She could taste blood on her tongue. Her brain is being turned to mush inside of her head.

“Umm…” She looks at Cathy unsurely. Her sister is pale and visibly in pain. There’s a thin line of blood trickling out of her right ear. “M-maybe?”

̶̳̠̮̦͈̏̃͝ ̵̧̤̠̥̳̽̾̇̚“̴̘̽̏̆B̶̧̗̹̤̻̏̕o̶͖͈̟͗̊̂͐b̵͉̙̝̯̜̾͆̈́ ̶̢̈́͊͘ẗ̸͚́a̶̮͋i̸̥͐͒̅̀̈l̵̞̓̄̕ͅ.̴̟̻̯̤̘́̌ ̸̥̱̉L̶̨̻̗͐͒e̷̜͔̎͒̂̅́á̵̩̤v̸͎͍̮̟͍̒̄̓è̷̼̜̓͐ ̵̡͆́͝c̸̻̹̺̬͐̀̑͋̓h̶̟̤̊̋i̸͙̲͎̞͒̈́̈́l̴͕̞̗̦̍d̴͓̹̿̽̑̕͠r̸̦̍͠ȇ̷͇ṉ̵̨̬͇̽͆͝.̴̣̩̯͇̦̏̔̅ ̴̪̖͓̖̿͊̚M̸̱͛͐͘ý̶̢̛̙̳͍̑̍͘ ̴̯̣̄͌m̷̖̟̜̬̺͌̄͆͌͘õ̴̰̜̹͌̈́͜t̷͎̾͊̇h̶̗̗̬̅̿̉͗͐ę̸̳̤̞͎͝r̶̞̝̲̩̤̽ŝ̸̞.̷̨̩̻͇̤̌ ̸̨̣͔͕͙̂̒W̸̱̤̮̹̜̉̈́̃͝ȋ̵̺̪̽l̶͔̞͈̺̐̐̉̿l̴̤̭̈́̒͐͌͝ ̸̡̤̉̿s̷̹̘͆̈́́̂͝e̴̢͇̹̭̭͑e̷̘͓͛̑͝ ̶̀́̚͜t̷̗͔̔͛̂̈́̚h̶̼̖͌̍è̵̲̲̞̼͖̀̓͝m̴̗̣͗́̄̕͜ͅ ̸̣̞͎̑̏s̷̻͐̈́̕ỏ̴̜͚͔o̸̪̜̓͋͋̕n̸̢̲̖͙͚̊̿͝.̷̮̈͂”̵͙̘̝͎̤̉̿͐͝ ̶̪͙̟͖͐̋̉̆̆

The ground began to shake. The triangle shudders harder. Cracks shoot through all the crystals and they crack and break into razor sharp shards. The pulse in Joan’s head turned into roaring, painful white noise.

“JOAN!!” Cathy shrieks.

A force seems to be ripping them apart.

“CATHY!!”

Her vision distorts. The feeling of phantom water rushes down through her eye sockets- she’s underwater.

Joan is underwater.

And down with her is debris.

Debris falling at an agonizingly slow rate.

She screams.

Bubbles explode from her lips.

A chunk of metal falls down, down, down.

The spray of bubbles turn red.

As Joan is cut in two by the debris.

She just barely feels it slice into her belly when-

“̷̝̋̈́Ḃ̷̩̒͋̍ō̵̱̖͔͙̄̓̊̅b̸̡̤̀̈́ ̵̪͕̮̌̏̈́͛̃t̵̰̪̬͕̹̕ȁ̷̘̌͆į̴͚̹̿̕l̵̡̗̬͈̗̎͑̿͐̚.̶̧̉͗̅̏ ̷̠̋͝S̸̢̗͙̞̔̈́h̴̙͉̥͚̑̊̾͝a̵̺̖̼̲̲͊̀̈́v̷̫̲̖͙̓e̸̼͑͂͐̑͌ ̵͔̬̑ť̵̛̖͘a̶̡̫̭͌͋̿͐͘ḭ̶͕̀̔͒l̴̡̩̮̲̩̑.̴̨̛͍͙́̀”̵̭̤͍̠̄́̐

-all goes black.


	2. fetch

Murky water.

Dark water.

Bloody water.

“Joan?”

The riptide strangles her in its vicious grip.

She can’t breathe.

“Joan!”

She can’t-

Joan’s eyes pop open. She blinks through a black haze and saw someone kneeling beside her, shaking her shoulder. They back away when she starts to get up.

“Joan, are you okay?”

“I-I think so… I don’t really know.” She looks up at Cathy. Her sister’s lips are pale. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Cathy said.

Joan nodded slowly then looked around. She had been lying at the bottom of a hill near an electric fence. Further up was a tower, which Cathy started to walk up towards. Joan followed.

“Listen, I’m just going to cut to the whatever… I don’t know what the hell happened back there, but that sign says that’s an old communications tower and, I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking we climb that ladder and call for help so we can get back home as fast as possible.” Her sister began to babble on. The anxiety was clear in her voice.

“Way ahead of you,” Joan agreed. “There has to be some kind of emergency number or a way to get off this rock without using the ferry.”

“Oh, and not for nothing,” Cathy went on. “I’m fine with a little depantsing or whatever if the weather was right, but this- this wasn’t you, right? You didn’t set this up?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Okay, okay…just making sure.”

Climbing up that tower was utter hell, to say the least. Joan already had a splitting headache and her fingernails felt as if they were about to shoot right off of her hands. Gripping the bars of the ladder made the joints in her fingers burn, sending strings of fire searing up through her arms with every grasp and clutch.

Walking up the dozens of rickety, old steps wasn’t any better, but that was just because they were stairs.

Upon getting to the top, Joan found a way in through an open window and unlocked the tower door for Cathy. With a flick of a switch, the power comes up and they no longer stand in complete darkness.

“And…there!” Joan said after pressing a button on a large piece of machinery. “That electric fence should be off now.”

Cathy went to say something to that, probably doubt Joan’s button-pushing skills, when, suddenly, the phone began to ring. She and Joan both leapt back with a yelp before exchanging looks. Joan picks up the phone.

“Hello?” She called wryly.

_“Joan?”_

Joan’s heart leapt.

“Anne?”

 _“Joan! Oh thank god!”_ Anne’s chipper voice sounds relieved. _“I— you guys went into that hole and a bunch of stuff… I don’t even know what, I just woke up fifteen minutes ago! I saw the light on in the, uh, tower thing, so I thought I’d try calling.”_

“How’d you get this number?” Cathy asked after Joan switched it to speaker.

 _“It’s written on this- this list. A bunch of codes. But the phone can’t call out. I’m at the, uh, way station in the woods.”_ Anne babbled on. Her sounds frantic. Nervous. Scared.

“Anne, are you alright?” Joan asked. “I mean- physically. Mentally, probably not so much…”

 _“No I’m not alright!”_ Anne barked. Her shrill voice made Joan’s temples throb. _“I mean- Do I sound alright?”_

The phone machine began to ring.

_“What’s that?”_

“Someone else is calling.” Cathy said. “Maybe you should switch over.”

“No,” Joan said. “I’ll stay on Anne’s line. This is more important.”

 _“Of course it’s more important!”_ Anne agreed loudly. _“I’m kinda super freaked out right now!”_

“I know, Anne, I know. Just, stay on the line and don’t-”

With almost comical timing, a dial tone buzzed out loudly.

“It’s- dead.” Joan whispered.

“Great,” Cathy sighed. “We should- we should probably go find her.”

“Yeah.”

So, the two of them trek all the way back down the tower, past the fence, and to the forest across the field. Stepping through that threshold, into the darkened brush of trees, was a little ominous to say the least. Nothing made Joan more claustrophobic than the sight of that heavy forest murk and mist sliding over the world as they crossed into nature’s playground.

One thing people seemed to forget- including Joan and Cathy- is just how loud the woods are at times, and how silent they become at others. The contrast between them can make your head spin. One moment it’s a symphony of owls and crickets and toads, then a branch will snap or thunder will crack, and suddenly you’re wondering if you’ve gone deaf.

And then of course, if you think about it too much, you realize just how full the darkness is with all those watchful eyes.

To try and ignore that fact, that they were probably being watched by something, the siblings made idle chitchat to pass the time as they walked down a dirt path. Cathy was telling Joan about a park at her old town when she sister, very suddenly, jumped across a large gap in between two ledges.

“Wh— J— Jesus!” Cathy yelped. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Calm down,” Joan said, “I do, like, a bajillion jumping jacks every morning!”

Cathy gave her a look. “My apologies. I hadn’t noticed.”

They continue walking after Cathy crossed until they get to a large clearing by a waterfall and river. Two small cabins are built there- one across from a cable car and one higher up on a small hill. The siblings go into the closer one.

“I found the circuit breaker,” Joan said. “This should turn on the cable car out there.”

“Wait,” Cathy said. “The first thing it says on here is ‘Beware of Overload. Do not attempt to use without a supervisor.’”

“Great! You’ll be my supervisor. Supervisor Cathy!”

“Let me do it.”

“Aww, that’s sweet, Cath.” Joan cooed. “But no.”

Cathy wrinkled her nose.

“Your barbecue…” She mumbled.

Joan inspected the circuit box for a moment before flipping a switch. The machinery hisses and buzzes before all the power goes out, including the lampposts outside, and the door slams shut. The only light now on was a single lamp on the small desk in the cabin, which glowed red.

The bulb was not red a moment ago.

“What did you do?!” Cathy yelped. “What did you flip?!”

“I flipped the only switch here!” Joan barked back. She eyed the lamp nervously. In the ominous crimson glow, she sees Cathy do the same.

“Do you…hear that?” Cathy whispered.

“The static?” Joan whispered back. “Yeah.” She slips her radio out of her pocket.

“Are you-?”

“Yeah.”

Joan twists the dial around until she gets to station 105.2. The radio vibrates in her hand. The lamp goes out. She swore she saw eyes peering in from the window. A ukulele began to play somewhere.

“That’s-” Cathy’s eyes are wide. “God, I haven’t- I haven’t heard that in forever. That’s something my mum used to listen to! Before she…”

All the power abruptly comes back on with an electric whirl. Cathy leapt back, then growled.

“I’m so tired of this funhouse bull crap!”

Joan gave her a small, wry smile. “At least the cable car is on.” She said, nodding in the direction of a loud mechanical buzzing.

Cathy sighed. “Yeah. Good.”

They both walk over to the bridge and step onto one of the shaky cable cars. Cathy grips onto the guard rail like she did on the boat.

“What a night, huh?” She said as the ferry slowly pulled them along the cable.

“What a night.” Joan agreed. She leans haphazardly against the rail, looking down at the chasm they’re treacherously passing over. “I’m sorry about all this, Cath. If I would have known-“

“No, hey,” Cathy set a hand on Joan’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault!”

“It’s my fault.” Joan shook her head. “If I’d I hadn’t brought that stupid radio, then…”

“No, no don’t say that.” Cathy said. “Well- you saying it saves me from having to say it, but still!”

“Hey!” Joan laughed, playfully swatting Cathy’s hand away.

“I kid! I kid!” Cathy giggled.

(Somewhere in Joan’s chest, the void that Maria left starts to mend)

The cable car sputters to a halt at the other side of the ravine and Cathy and Joan carefully step off. They look around the camp ground that’s now stretched out before them…and the mountain side they’ll have to hike up.

“My legs are going to be dead by the end of this,” Cathy sighed. “So, you came here a lot as a kid, right?”

“Yeah,” Joan nodded, walking past a large pond. “Well- not a lot, but sometimes.”

“Yeah, I could see how this would be a cool place to camp during the spring or summer-”

\- …. . / -.-. …. .. -.-. -.- . -. / … .— .. — … / .. -. / .- / .—. — — .-.. / — ..-. / -… .-.. —

“So, you came here a lot as a kid, right?”

“Yeah,” Joan nodded, walking past a large pond. “Well- not a lot, but sometimes.”

Then, she froze.

“Wait- you already said that, didn’t you?”

Cathy looked at her confusedly.

“Did I?” She blinked. “I only mention it because my family trips were kinda shitty. My mums would insist on going to France. Every. Single. Year.”

Joan laughed. The mini jolt of fear washes away, but a dull buzzing sensation in her brain remains.

“What’s so bad about France?” She asked.

“Nothing! Nothing! I mean- after you see the Eiffel Tower for the sixth time in a row it’s kinda…not as cool as it was before. You know, oui oui baguette and whatnot- I’ve already got the whole nine yards.”

Joan laughed loudly. It makes her head hurt.

And then she stops laughing.

Because she notices that the campfire by one of the tents was burning.

“Wait- was this-? There wasn’t a fire going before, right?” She asked Cathy. She notices that her sister seems a little pale and ashen.

“I, um, honestly don’t remember. Is something w-”

… - — .—. / -… .-…- - …. .. -. —. .-.-.- / -.— — ..- # .-. . / -.- …—. .. -. —. / — . / .- .— .- -.- .

“So, you came here a lot as a kid, right?”

“Yeah,” Joan nodded, walking past a large pond. “Well- not a lot, but sometimes.”

Then, her heart drops into her stomach. The words had slipped free without her consent, but she got control of her brain once more.

“Something is… Cathy, something is wrong. We’ve walked past this pond, like, twice now.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Cathy asked. Joan stares at her in shock.

“You really don’t remember, Cath? You’ve been asking me if I’ve come here as a kid over and over again!”

“I have?” Cathy’s eyes widen a little. “I don’t- I’m sorry, Joan, but I don’t understand. Can you try to explain it to me?”

“We keep repeating this one moment over and over again, and I don’t-” Joan pressed the heel of her palm to her temple. “God, if my head will stop hurting for two friggin’ seconds, then maybe I’ll be able to think straight!” A blizzard of white suddenly obscures her vision, but she fights through it enough to notice a football sitting a few feet away. “That is, uh, new.”

“Wasn’t there before?” Cathy asked.

“Yeah…” Joan kicks the ball. “Take that. Ball.”

Cathy laughs.

Until the ball rolls back to Joan’s feet.

Joan’s head snaps around to look at Cathy, whose eyes are wide in shock.

“What…?” Joan whispered. She kicks the ball again. There’s a snap from behind her that makes her muscles lurch.

“I’m taking a picture of the ball moving, not your kicking, just so you know.” Cathy said. She takes another photo, this time with the flash.

“ƒê†¢h… ƒê†¢h…”

The ball is kicked back.

Dread spills through Joan’s stomach. Her gut in screaming at her to run away, but there’s nowhere to go.

(Perhaps she should just jump into the ravine and let the rocks and trees down below rip her to shreds)

“Alright,” She finds her voice and makes it as angry as possible. “Who are you?”

**_“Alright, who are you?”_ **

That was her voice.

“Maybe don’t, uhh…antagonize whoever is doing this…” Cathy suggested nervously. She’s rooted firmly at her place by the fire.

“Uhh…haha…” Joan manages to choke our fearful laughter. “Good one!” She kicks the ball again.

It does not come back.

“That was…weird.” She whispered. “C-come on, Cath.”

She began walking alongside the pond again. When she looks up, she sees two glowing red dots bearing down on her.

“ƒê†¢h. ƒê†¢h.” 

Blackness spread on a chunk of stone that used to be a ruined building. It starts at the dots, hazing into a circular form, then smears down, painting in a hunched formation for a body and then adding two long lines for the arms.

“Joan,” Cathy whispered. She isn’t looking at the sudden artistry. “You might wanna come take a look at this.”

Joan backs away from the debris and back over to Cathy. She’s looking down at her phone. The photo displays on the screen shows her staring at the camera in confusion. The flash that had gone off illuminated the huge, hulking body of the black figure standing mere feet behind her.

\- …. . / -.-. …. .. -.-. -.- . -. / .-….. - … / .—…- -.-….-. ..- .-.. .-.. -.—

“Yeah,” Joan nodded, walking past a large pond. “Well- not a lot, but sometimes.”

She says that, but there was no lead in question.

There was no Cathy.

“Cathy?” Joan called out. “Cathy, where- where are you?!”

She pulled her grey jacket closer to her as she hurried down the path that passed by the pond. Rockets of anxiety were shooting through her, more so now that Cathy wasn’t there by her side.

It was strange, she thinks, how attached she had become to the girl she’s only known for- she checks the time on her phone. the numbers are stuck on 12:11- seven hours at most.

She looks down from her phone.

Down at her reflection in the water.

Down at _her_ in the water.

Joan’s muscles clench so tightly she thought they may snap her bones in two.

“Wh-what the…”

 _ **“Don’t tell Maria to break up with Catalina. They really like each other.”**_ Said the Other-Joan.

“How- But…Maria’s… Maria’s dead. How could I even-”

…- . .-. — -. .. -.-. .- / .-. ..- -. … .-.-.-

“Wait- wait- we’ve done this before.”

Joan whirled around and her heart leapt into her throat when she saw Cathy standing there with her.

“Now you realize?” She said.

“Sorry, I just couldn’t-” Cathy shook her head. “Maybe we missed something?”

“Maybe…”

They walk past the pond for the fifth time (sixth time- tenth time- hundredth time-). The fire has gone out. A large reel-to-reel tape player sits nearby.

“Woah,” Cathy said. “That wasn’t there before, right? Or am I…?”

“No, you’re right.” Joan said. “Wow. It’s super old but almost spotless.” She grabs the handle, glanced at Cathy, then began to twist it around. A tune began to play.

A tune that distorts by the frizzing of static.

When Joan manages to open her eyes again (she hasn’t realize how difficult it’s been until now), the tape player is gone.

“You know,” Cathy started softly. “I haven’t realized there was this…pressure in my head until just now. Maybe that fixed the loop.”

Joan clenches and unclenches her fingers. They feel a little more real, now. Not like they were dangling on her hands from weak threads that could snap at any moment.

“Maybe,” Joan whispered. She and Cathy pass by the pond for the final (not final, not last, will come back- can’t leave-) time. Neither of them look at the black mess on the broken wall. “Can you remember any of the loops?”

“Not…not really.” Cathy admits. “But I remember the ball thing. That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

A heavy silence fell between the two of them as they trekked up the hiking trail, across a bridge, and back down a small hill. Their knees were wobbling, leg muscles burning from all the walking and climbing, but at least they weren’t being chased by anything.

“Hey,” Cathy spoke up, cutting away the still silence with her smooth voice. “Is that Kitty?”

Joan looks in the direction her head is twisted in. Down by a small grove of autumn-blazed bushes, Kitty is looking around aimlessly. She’s hugging herself tightly.

The sisters approach the girl. When they get close, Kitty rears back, stepping away. Her eyes are too wide.

“D- don’t- don’t move, okay? Don’t come anywhere near me!” She yelled.

“Kitty?” Cathy said in confusion.

“Kitty, come on, it’s us.” Joan said. “You can see that it’s us. It’s me and Cathy.”

Kitty looked them up and down cautiously. She’s still very on edge and bristled.

“This night has turned- _banana bread_. Really fast. And I’m seeing things and forgetting things and I’ve bumped into you once already… And that was horrible.”

Joan and Cathy exchange looks.

“What are you talking about?” Joan asked.

“I’m talking about the Joan at the pier.” Kitty explained. “After the the cave looked like freakin’ Guy Fawkes Day and I lost track of everybody.”

“Kitty, that wasn’t us.” Cathy said. Hearing that made shivers run down all of their spines.

“I don’t know that yet.” Kitty said. She takes another small step back. “So, look- you are not going to talk about my grandmother. You’re going to stand there and, very politely, tell me where Catalina is.”

“We haven’t seen her.” Joan answered her, “We were looking for Anne.”

“‘Maybe you should come with us.” Cathy offered. “It’ll be better to stay as a group.”

“No- no!” Kitty jumped back when Cathy tried to get near her. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“Kitty, wait-” Joan held her hands out like she was trying to calm a wild animal. “You don’t have to come with us but can you-…” She looked at Cathy for assistance.

“Go to the Comm Tower.” Cathy said.

“Right! Yeah! The Comm Tower!” Joan looked back at Kitty. “Go there. Please? Wait for us.”

Kitty hesitated. “Alright.” She finally said. “Uhh… Bye.”

She turned and ran off down the path. Joan and Cathy are left in silence. They exchange looks once, then move on.

Through the brush and up the hills they trek. Random conversations to make the situation less tense and to ease the mood are brought up- Cathy asks why Joan flipped the switch back at that shack even though she had offered. Joan said to impress her, of course. They were both able to get a laugh out of that.

“Okay, that must be the way station.” Cathy said, looking up at a small house up the hill. “Now, tell me: why would an island need one exactly?”

Joan went on to lecture her about how Edward’s Island had been a mining outpost before the war as they walked up to the cabin. Upon entering, they see Anne huddled on the floor. Her eyes had been blankly staring at the wall, but then the sisters appeared in the doorway and they lit up.

“Oh man, thank god!” She jumped up. “I thought you were a werewolf.” She hugged Joan. Cathy just got a wave.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Joan said, relieved for her friend. “Or- as okay as you can be right now. I’m pretty bad out there.”

“No, yeah, I’m fine.” Anne said. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Joan opened her mouth-

\- …. . / …. — .-. … . / -.. — . … / -. — - / … - . .–. / .. -. - — / - …. . / .–. ..- -.. -.. .-.. . / ..-. — .-. / ..-…- .-. / — ..-. / -… . .. -. –. / .–. ..- .-.. .-.. . -.. / .. -.

“Okay, that must be the way station.” Cathy said, looking up at a small house up the hill. “Now, tell me: why would an island need one exactly?”

“Cathy! We’re repeating the same thing again!” Joan almost whined.

“We are? Huh. Kinda weird that you can tell when it’s happening and I can’t, right?” Cathy said. Her answer was a distraught nod.

They continue down the past for the second (third, fourth, fifth, hundredth-) time until they notice Anne hunched over a few yards away. When they both try to call out to her, she turns abruptly and began walking up to the way station before stopping and standing still again. Her body begins to jitter and twitch sporadically.

“What’s…what’s going on?” Joan whispered. She waved a hand in front of Anne’s face, but her eyes are completely blank. Glazed. _Blind_. “She’s like- sick, or something.” She notices two tape players nearby and walks up to them as Cathy stays with Anne.

“This is so weird,” Cathy whispered as her sister cranked the handle on one of the tape players. “What are you doing?”

“This- I don’t know if you remember, but the last time we got stuck in a loop, we used one of these to get out.” Joan explained, walking over to the other one.

“I remember, I remember.” Cathy said. “Kinda.” She watched as Joan cranks the handle on the second tape player and-

-… . / –. .-.. .- -.. / - …. . / .–. . — .–. .-.. . / .. -. / - …. . / .– — — -.. … / .- .-. . / - — — / -… ..- … -.– / . .- - .. -. –. / - — / -. — - .. -.-. . / -.– — ..-

Anne is gone.

“Oh no,” Joan whispered.

She and Cathy hurried through the way station cabin, exiting out through the other side and ran up a small hill. There, standing on the edge of a cliff face, is Anne.

But it wasn’t Anne. Or maybe it was, but something is definitely wrong.

Whorls of black mist wreathes around her body, which is wracked with violent spasms. She mumbling inaudible gibberish. Red light glows from her eyes.

“Oh god,” Joan muttered.

“Shit.” Cathy hissed. “We- we gotta do something! We can’t just leave her like this!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, but-” Joan clenches her fists in her pockets. Clenches them around the radio. She pulls it out and tried to tune in.

**98.1**

An iridescent triangle etches itself out in the middle of the air. Anne falls to her knees, gurgling.

“Woah. Is this— is this helping or hurting her?” Cathy asked.

“It’s all I can think of to do!” Joan snapped back.

**105.2**

A line streaks from one point of the triangle and forms a second one. Anne’s body is suspended in the air by an unseen force. She’s now gagging, almost choking. Cathy says nothing. Nor does Joan.

**99.1**

The triangle is complete.

Anne is unceremoniously dropped to the ground. She’s no longer smoking or choking. Cathy goes to her aid.

“HårÐ †ð †ålk †hrðµgh ¢hïlÐ.”

Something appears to grab Cathy and her body goes limp. Then, in a blink of an eye, she’s gone. Joan is startled out of her daze.

“£êêl§ §†rê†¢hêÐ. ßê††êr ñðw.”

“Cathy?!” Joan cries, looking around frantically. That intense feeling of separation anxiety comes back strong. “Where did you—?!”

“Wê årê åßðµñÐïñg. ñð† ðñê. §ïll¥. ßlðñÐê håïr.”

It’s that voice from the cave, Joan realizes.

“ßµ† Ðð ñð† ßê §¢årêÐ. ¥ðµ årê Ððll§. WðµlÐ ñêvêr hµr† ¥ðµ. Çåñ ñð† hµr† ¥ðµ.”

Joan takes a small step back. The presence of the triangle or portal- whatever it may be- makes her temples throb horribly.

“Can we- can we help you?” She asked meekly.

“Lêåvê. þð§§ïßlê.”

**_“I…I don’t know what you mean, so… I can’t…”_ **

That was Joan’s voice.

But it doesn’t come from her mouth.

Nor does she remember ever saying that.

“GrðµñÐêÐ. ß¥ †hê Lêê. Mårgårê†.” Said the voices. Then, slowly, it oozed out, “þrê††¥ lï††lê þðþþ¥.”

“Margaret Lee…? You mean that old lady? What does she have to do with anything?” Joan asked.

“†hå† ðlÐ wðmåñ. Wå§ ¥ðµñg. Öñ¢ê.” Said the voices. “Wê wêrê ¥ðµñg. Öñ¢ê.”

Distorted figures flash around Joan’s vision. White dots, red dots, black hazes- she can’t look fast enough to know what they really are.

“§ï† §†ïll.” Said the voices. “ßêår ƒrµï†.” It halts for a moment. “†åg.” 

Joan’s head gets split open by unseen hands and her brains spill out everywhere.

“¥ðµ. Ì†.”

She gasps and doubles over, pressing her hands against her knees. She sees Anne stir and start to get up. There’s footsteps behind her- Cathy’s footsteps.

Then, a scream. Anne’s scream. And Joan and Cathy scream, too.

“Holy mother of god, you guys!” Anne cried. “That was- oh my god! Why— Why is this— Why— actually, thanks for coming by the way! Why is this happening?!”

“We…” Joan glanced nervously at Cathy, “Kinda…did something…weird…”

“Yeesh.” Anne said.

They attempted to regroup after everyone assured one another that they were fine. Anne told the step-siblings about how Catalina had called her from Fort Milner, while the sisters told her where her cousin was. In the end, the decision to split up was made.

“Milner ho?” Cathy said after Anne headed for the Comm Tower where Kitty was.

Joan smiled slightly.

“Milner ho.”


	3. do you wanna play a game?

Something about abandoned building lying around made Fort Milner ten times more creepy than the woods. Sure, the forest could hide so many things, but anyone could be peering out of those stained, murky windows.

The sudden sound of the loudspeakers cracking to life didn’t help the tense mood, either.

“Hello? Can anybody hear me?” Catalina’s voice spoke. “If- if anyone can hear me I’m at Fort Milner in the— I think the gym?”

“She sounds…scared.” Joan said.

“Yeah.” Cathy agreed. “I mean, I would be, too. I am, but at least I’m not alone.”

Joan nodded as they got to the door leading to the next area of the fort, only to find it locked. She sighed and walked to the other buildings as Cathy went on about their theory over the whole thing: It was a government experiment.

As she was explaining this, Joan noticed a red light flickering at the top as a gazebo-like structure.

It was the same shade of red that the lamp in the forest cabin was.

She climbed the ladder leading up to the platform. The higher she went, the louder a buzzing sound became, and it nearly overwhelmed her so much that she almost fell down onto Cathy.

Once at the top, Joan takes out her radio and began to tune in.

**102.3**

The red light overhead shatters into thousands of tiny pieces, sprinkling Joan and Cathy in shards. At the same time, the sky splits with a jagged bolt of white and rain came pouring down.

“𝔻𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖!” Chimed a gameshow host-like voice from the radio. “𝕀𝕥’𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕥! ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖—” It cuts off abruptly.

“What the hell is this?” Cathy muttered.

“𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕒 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖?”

The locked door nearby swings open.

Inside in the fort’s facilities- dorms and whatnot. The storm rages outside.

“So… Maria and Catalina…they dated?” Cathy asked.

“Annoyingly, yes.” Joan grumbled.

“You don’t seem too happy about that.”

“Of course I wasn’t! I mean- I want Maria to be happy but- Catalina? She could do so much better!”

Cathy laughed slightly, then noticed a fleeting figure up a small set of stairs.

“Hey, that’s- that’s Catalina!”

If she noticed the way Catalina’s eyes glowed red, she didn’t think much of it as she chased the older girl into a side room.

The door slams shut behind her.

“Cathy!” Joan cried. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Cathy, what happened? Are you alright?”

No answer.

“Shit- shit, shit!” Joan turned around and passed by a large, rectangular mirror mounted on the wall to get to a staircase leading up to the kitchen area.

As she was walking up the steps, she tried not to look at the black figure staring at her from the windows.

She steps into the kitchen.

The figure was there again.

Its body was a mere outline of iridescent static, but its eyes remained a blistering shade of crimson.

Joan didn’t see it this time.

She walks to the end of the room, finding a light switch on the far wall. She flips in. The lights burst to life throughout the entire facility.

“Testing, testing-” Cathy’s voice come from the speakers. “Okay, I can’t hear anything outside, but there’s this radio thing so- Listen, Catalina’s not in here, it’s just a room, so riddle me that, first of all, and second- I can’t get out.”

“Hold on, I’ll figure something out.” Joan called out.

She walks down the staircase again. This time, the figure is not watching her.

However, when she passes the mirror, her reflection doesn’t move with her.

Joan froze.

“H-hello?” She squeaked out.

The reflection shudders and twitches before opening its mouth.

_**“When the time comes, let Cathy talk to her mum.”** _

“Her…her mum’s dead- I know her mum’s dead! How does…”

Static fills Joan’s mind. She screwed her eyes shut for a moment and when they open again, her reflection is moving with her.

“-and, you saw Catalina, too, right? I’m not crazy?”

Joan hurries over to the door.

She opens it on one try.

“Oh.” Cathy said from inside. “One way lock?”

“Maybe.”

“Anyway, thanks.” Cathy sidles past Joan while Joan went inside and checked out the room. There, she finds a padlock code for a door downstairs.

“Huh,” She said aloud. “They called codes ‘cookies’. Weird.”

“Hey-” Cathy said from outside. “Did you see that? In the mirror?”

Ice shot through Joan’s veins. She hurried over to Cathy, who is holding her phone out to the mirror. She takes the photo. They don’t inspect it for long.

They both saw the figure standing right behind them.

And this time it was starting to look a little red.

“I’m gonna really hate going out in that.” Cathy mumbled as they climbed through a window after unlocking the locked door. They both were now standing- in the pouring rain, mind you- on a platform with a ladder leading down to the gym facility.

And, below them, there was Catalina.

“Catalina!” Cathy and Joan shout as the older girl ran into the gym building.

“What is she-?!” Cathy sputtered.

“Damnit, Catalina! Come back!” Joan cried.

They, very clumsily, make their way down the slippery ladder. Joan ends up slipping and falling into the muddy gravel, completely ruining the back of her grey jacket. She groans.

“You okay?” Cathy asked while helping her up.

“Peachy.” Joan sighed.

The sisters step into the gym building. The only thing inside is a chalkboard, some old desks, and large, triangle shaped window on the wall.

No Catalina.

This time, they both groan.

“This door is locked,” Cathy said after she tried the knob on a door opposite of the entrance ones. She sighed as she took of her soggy beanie and wrung it out.

Joan looks around before realizing the dim glow illumination the room is coming from a hanging light.

A hanging light with a red bulb.

Joan looks at Cathy. Cathy nods. Joan takes out the radio and tuned in.

**95.5**

Static returned, filling the air with its horrendous buzzing. The bulb shatters, but the red glow still remains. The light now swings slowly back and forth.

“Joan…” Cathy said softly.

“ℍ𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕙 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕪 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕’𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣!” The gameshow host-like voice from before began to say energetically. “𝕀𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕒 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕!” Buzzing overcomes it for a moment. “ℍ𝕖𝕪 𝕜𝕚𝕕𝕤! 𝕎𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕒 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖?”

A hangman pole is drawn on the chalkboard by an unseen hand.

“What is it doing…?” Joan muttered.

“Hangman?” Cathy whispered.

“𝔹𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟, 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤!” Said the radio. “𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔹𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖. ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖?”

“This isn’t how you play Hangman.” Joan said uneasily.

“ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕖’𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥. 𝕊𝕠 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙.”

On the second chalkboard, three names are written. _Fort Milner, School For Armed Services,_ and _UK Army Radio Communications School._

“𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟?”

The radio began to count down from ten.

“School?” Cathy said. “This is a school?” She looks at Joan, who is shocked.

“Umm- uhh- F-Fort Milner?” Joan tried weakly.

A buzzer noise emits from the radio.

A head is drawn on the chalkboard.

“𝕆𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙!”

Blurriness and static hazes distorted Joan’s vision for a moment. She grunts and hears Cathy utter a pained noise at her side. Her sister clutches tightly at her skull.

“Ðð ¥ðµ †hïñk. Ú§. Çrµêl.”

It was the cave voices.

“Ðð ¥ðµ †hïñk. Ú§. Çållðµ§.”

“I don’t care!” Joan said. “Just don’t hurt-”

A buzz of static through her mind silences her.

“Wê Ððñ’† hµr† þlå¥må†ê§.”

The whole room twists together into one big, messy blob. Joan stumbles, feeling like she’s upside down and that’s she’s about to fall. She paws for something for grounding and finds Cathy. She grips tightly to her sister’s hunched shoulder.

“Ughh…” Cathy groaned. She’s hugging her stomach with one arm.

“I think I’m gonna be sick…” Joan moaned miserably.

“𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕠𝕟.” The radio pipes back up. “ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕨𝕠!”

Three more words are drawn on the chalkboard- sɹǝɥdıƆ ‘sǝpoƆ 'sǝıʞooƆ- but they’re upside down. Or maybe Joan is upside down- she doesn’t know.

“𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕥 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕄𝕚𝕝𝕟𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕕𝕖𝕤?”

A lightbulb went off in Joan’s mind. That she knew.

“Cookies,” She said with as much confidence as she could muster. “They called codes…cookies.”

The radio dings.

“𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖! ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘!” It praised. “ℂ𝕠𝕕𝕖𝕤 𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕛𝕠𝕓. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕕.”

“Why- why would I? What does this have to do-?”

Her vision bugs out again and twin hammers beat down against both temples. She feels Cathy slip from her grasp and appear in front of her. But…

But it isn’t Cathy.

It looks like Cathy, and it sounds like Cathy, but it isn’t Cathy.

Cathy doesn’t have glowing red eyes.

**“We are an island race…”** Not-Cathy says. Her voice is wrong. It’s hers, sort of, but has a distorted tone to it, like dozens of other voices are whispering the words along with her. It’s too dark. Too edged with razor sharp barbs. **“And through all our times the sea has ruled our breaks. Be wary, young ones.”**

“No!” Joan cried. “Leave Cathy out of this!”

They- the things- don’t listen. In fact, they seem to tease her by making Cathy’s body shudder in a way that looks absolutely painful.

“𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕞!” Chimed in the radio. Its chipper voice doesn’t go right with this horrifying situation that will be sure to haunt both girl’s dreams for years to come. If Cathy even remembers her body being piloted by some unseen force, that is. “ℙ𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕝𝕤 𝕦𝕡!”

This time, numbers are scrawled on the board with chalk that isn’t there- _12, 53,_ and _85._ Joan can barely see them. Not because of her messy vision, but because of the haze of tears forming in her eyes.

Cathy’s shoulders are heaving up and down like she was breathing heavily, but Joan couldn’t even hear the inhale and exhale of oxygen. She may not even be breathing at all.

“ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕂𝕊 𝕂𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕒?” Asked the radio.

“Nnng… Fifty-three?” Joan squeaked out.

The radio makes a buzzer sound.

Cathy groans softly.

“𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘, 𝔹𝕠𝕓!” The radio said. “ℕ𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕪-𝕤𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟 𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕂 𝕂𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕒. 𝔼𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕪-𝕗𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕤. 𝕋𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕧𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤.”

A body for the hangman scratches loudly down the chalkboard.

“𝕀𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕕𝕕𝕤 𝕦𝕡 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔹𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥. 𝔸𝕞ðñ𝕘 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕪.”

The radio cuts to white noise. Cathy hunched over in a position that looked very uncomfortable, even for someone that may be flexible. She’s mumbling incoherently.

Just like Anne had.

“Cathy?” Joan whispered. “Cathy, come on, talk to me!”

Cathy does not.

Joan knows what she has to do.

She began to tune in with that blasted radio.

**106.2**

Cathy falls to her knees.

**92.1**

Cathy is dragged into the air and begins to spasm.

**104**

The triangle is complete.

This time, instead of green, then interior is dark, bubbling blue.

Like the bottom of the ocean.

Cathy is dropped to the floor, limp.

“𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕕𝕠𝕞 𝕊𝕦𝕓𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕂𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕒 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕚𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪.” Crackles the radio. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕥’𝕤 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤…𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕔. “𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕡𝕖, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕔𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖— 𝕂𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠𝕕𝕒𝕪— 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕥— 𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕒— 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣—”

“Is this…” Joan finds her voice and it’s a mere squeak of noise. “Is this the dead officers who sunk on the Kanaloa?”

“Wê. Ärê. †hê §µñkêñ.”

Chills ripple up Joan’s spine. She steps back, but she knows there is nowhere to run.

“What…what do you want?”

“𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖… 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖… 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖…”

Bubbles rise up from the triangle window on the wall. The entire building seems to rock backs and forth. The churning of water fills Joan’s ears.

“†ïmê. Jµ§† †ïmê.”

White handprints splatter against the chalkboards.

The lights flicker and come back to life.

The once-locked door swings open.

Cathy groaned.

“What… I…” She struggled to push herself up, but managed to get to her feet. “I…”

“Just take it slow and easy.” Joan said, hurrying over to her. She steadies her sister gently. “You had an…experience.”

“Yes, yes… Great.” Cathy sighed. She rubbed her aching head. “Let’s- let’s go.”

“Are you sure?” Joan asked worriedly. “You don’t want to sit down for a moment?”

“No, no, I’m sure.” Cathy said. “Come on.”

They both walk through the door and up the rest of the way to communication booth. As they do so, the speaker Catalina had talked on before turns back on.

“Catalina’s asleep right now. Be still as to not wake her.”

Cathy and Joan both paused for a moment.

They say nothing about it.

“Cross your fingers.” Cathy said.

They both step inside the radio room.

“Oh my god! You guys came!” Catalina jumped up from where she was standing over the control panel. “Wait- how did you even know I was here in the first place? Are you just…aimlessly wandering around or, like…”

“Anne told us.” Joan cut her off. “Are you alright?”

Catalina tilts her head a little. “Yeah, I’m alright. Why? Do I not look alright? I guess, sure, my hair might be a little weird, but…”

“You just sounded…distressed. That’s all.” Joan said.

“Well, I mean-” Catalina _does_ look distressed. It’s unlike her to be this way. To see her without her pompous, hawk-like features was strange, to say the least. Even a little unnerving. “I dunno. I’m fine now, so…”

“Alright,” Cathy cut in. “Where’s this famous radio?”

“There.” Catalina nodded at the control panel. “I can’t get it to do anything.”

Joan walks over to the machinery and began to tinker with the buttons and switches. She gave up after a moment, swallowing thickly, but doesn’t look at the other two. She doesn’t want to see their scared expressions.

“Yeah, no, it… It’s like a low frequency thing? It’s just for the fort. I don’t think-“ She sighed, “I don’t think it can beam out.”

“No. No no no no no!” Catalina ruffles up. “Isn’t there a way to—”

“†hê ð££ï¢êr§ whð kñðw ¥ðµr þrðßlêm§ £µll åñÐ wêll wïll gïvê ¥ðµ å £rïêñÐl¥ åñÐ §¥mþå†hê†ï¢ hêårïñg…”

“Who is that?”

“Oh god no—”

.. ..-. / -.– — ..- / ..-… .-.. / … — – . — -. . / –. .-. .- -… / -.– — ..- .-. / …. .- -. -.. –..– / -.. — -. - / .-.. — — -.- / — …- . .-. / .- - / - …. . –

“Cross your fingers.” Cathy said.

“Aaagh!!” Joan cried, “Not now! We’re looping again!!”

“Oh crap.” Cathy’s eyes widen. “Well…keep me posted.”

Joan sighed.

“Will do.”

They both step inside the radio room.

And Catalina is hanging from the ceiling.

There’s a noose around her neck.

“CATALINA!!” Cathy shrieked.

Joan can’t even speak. Tears are filling her eyes and running down her cheeks in an instant.

Catalina was dead.

Catalina was dead—

She couldn’t be. She and Joan still had to make amends! They still had to go through their emotional bonding moments that would make them friends for life! There were still things Joan wanted to say to her- albeit some were a bit snarky- and things she wished she hadn’t said.

But it doesn’t matter now because Catalina was d—

-.. — -. - / - .- .-.. -.- / - — / - …. . / -… — -….. .-.-.- / .. / -.- -. — .– / - …. . -.– .-. . / . -. - .. -.-. .. -. –.

“Cross your fingers.” Cathy said.

Air stings in Joan’s lungs as she inhaled sharply.

“Holy crap…” She mumbled.

“What?” Cathy asked. “What is it?”

“Brace yourself.” Joan whispered.

They both step inside the radio room.

But Catalina was nowhere to be seen.

A tape player was the only thing in her place.

“What the-? I could have sworn I heard her in here.” Cathy said.

“Better gone than dead…” Joan muttered. She turned to the tape player. “Great. One of these things again.”

Cathy gestured for it. Joan gives her a look.

“What? It seems to be your job! Go on!”

Sighing heavily, Joan began to crank the handle around and around.

Reality and awareness distorts like so many times before. Joan winces at the familiar rap against her skull.

“Catalina?”

She turned quickly at Cathy’s awed mumbled.

Catalina is in there with them.

But she’s standing on the sill of the open window, peering out.

“Catalina!” Joan said. “Oh, thank god! We saw you— I saw you—”

**“Joan. Don’t worry.”**

There’s an edge to her voice…

“She’s like- she’s like how Anne was!” Cathy said.

“Catalina, wake up!”

Catalina chuckles. She doesn’t turn to face them.

**“There will be other ships…and other souls to sail them.”**

Then, she teeters forward-

“NO!!!”

-and falls out back.

Joan ran to the window, nearly flipping out of it herself before she fell to her knees, leaning out of the sill, one hand outstretched as if she thought it would do something. The resounding crack and snap of shattering bones will stick with both her and Cathy for the rest of their lives.

“Oh my g— why would she do that?!” Cathy cried.

Cathy rushed to the window and peered down into the blackness below, mouth hanging open. It was too dark to see anything and she could hear no signs of life.

“We’re— we’re— it’s not like—” Cathy babbled. Her hands are at her head, fingers tangled in her hair.

“She killed herself.” Joan muttered. “Oh my god, she just killed herself! They made her—” The image of Catalina going down replayed in her mind. “I just— this is— Cathy, this is so horrible!”

Her sister looks equally as stunned and sickened.

“I don’t… I don’t even know what…” She murmured, standing up shakily and backing away. “I didn’t know if things were— Was she upset— Oh my god. _Why?_ ”

She has her hand over her mouth, eyes wider than saucers. She looks to be in more of disbelief than grief.

They both hurried for the staircase.

“I can’t…I can’t believe this. I-I know I haven’t known her long, but this— What are we going to tell the others?” Cathy said in a rush.

“The others?” Joan yelped, “How am I going to tell her mum? I mean, she knows me, she— and, god, the fact that I was here— God.”

Any kind of reassurance to that was left unspoken when they got to the outside of the gym. The dull light from the lampposts shined onto the large dark red splotch that the rain was washing away, but no body.

“She’s…alive?!”

She glanced at her sister, who was biting her nails.

“She’s alive!” Joan said in relief. “Maybe she just twisted her— twisted—”

“Joan-” Cathy cut off her babble of false hope. “Even if she had fallen feet-first she still would have broken every bone in her body!”

“Okay, maybe!” Joan said, “But still!”

“Right, yeah… Good news?”

Joan snapped her head to her sister.

“Yes, Cathy, it is good news that Catalina isn’t dead. Christ.”

“That isn’t why I hesitated!!”


	4. all the outs in free

The mud sloshes loudly as Cathy and Joan trudge away from Fort Milner. They try not to look at the stew of muck beneath their feet, for they fear that they may see tints of red glistening in the slop. 

Neither of them spoke as they walked across the field. Cathy was lost in thought, coming up with entire spider webs of theories in her head, while Joan was just in a state of shock. Her face was pale, aside from her eyes, which are still puffy and rimmed with red from crying. She had tried to wipe away the tears, but scrubbing her face with her sleeve only inflamed the skin further. She gave up after a while.

Dark mist rolled in the distance, near Main Street. Cathy watched the black fog. Sometimes she thought she could hear other footsteps stamping in the mud somewhere off in the distance. Other times it’s right behind her. She can’t be too sure.

She and Joan get to the fence that wrapped around the Comm Tower. When they looked at the metal chainlink, they didn’t feel safe, rather trapped. 

It was there to keep them in.

“Hey! Hey!” Anne is running down from the ladder. “I saw you coming up from the tower!”

“How are you doing?” Joan asked.

“Umm- better.” Anne said. “No luck with the radio. It’s been what my therapist would call a ‘negative reinforcer.’ I’m just glad I took that second brownie.”

“What?” Cathy snapped.

“When did you take a second one?” Joan asked.

“Just before you came. Don’t worry about it!” Anne said as she climbs back up the ladder. If she sees the way Cathy is fuming, she ignores it.

“If that’s what you need- fine.” Joan said. It was clear she didn’t want anyone fighting at the moment.

The three of them climb up to the top of the tower where Kitty is waiting. The girl looks slightly better from when Joan and Cathy last saw her, but definitely still wry and jittery.

“Hey, Kit,” Joan waved halfheartedly. “Night’s still goin’, huh?”

“Yeah.” Kitty replied dryly. “I couldn’t get anything to work beside the speaker.”

“More than we could do,” Cathy said.

They all went into the tower cabin to get out of the cold. The wind was a lot crueler all the way up there, like it was adamant on knocking one of the teenagers off with its powerful gales. Joan shoved her next-to-numb hands into her jacket pocket, which didn’t help much since the coat was still wet from the rain at Fort Milner.

“Oh!” Anne suddenly said. “I got it! It’s Maggie Lee?”

“Maggie Lee?” Kitty echoes curiously. 

“Yeah! She has a boat!” Anne went on. “Something good finally hatred loose from all this hysteria, eh? Anyway, my sister, Mary, used to work at the Park’s office. She had to deliver mail to that lady almost every day. I know there’s a key down there.”

“So, we’re gonna—“

“No!” Cathy barked. Kitty snaps her mouth shut with a small lurch of her shoulders. “No no no! We are not going to go with the first plan from the group’s resident burnout.” She wheeled around to glare at Anne when she said that.

Anne narrows her eyes and ruffled herself up. With her brown hair frizzing from her unruly, half-undone spacebuns and smaller stature than the dark-skinned girl, she looked about as intimidating as a raccoon trying to defend its piece of garbage it just stole from the rubbish bin. Her voice, however, was biting, like the chilled gales just outside the cabin.

“I am not a burnout!” She snapped. 

“What other plan do we have, Cathy?” Joan said, trying to step in again.

“Oh, I don’t know! Fix the radio, find Catalina, set fire to the mug shop!” Cathy began to rattle off, “And those are just at the top of my head!”

“Those won’t do us any good.” 

Cathy clenched her jaw and began stalking up to Anne. She easily towered over to paler girl, riling herself up like a smoking volcano about to blow or a mother owl who just had one of her chicks threatened- her talons are open and primed for blood.

“Anne,” She laughed harshly. Her voice is as cold and hard as a glacier. “don’t forget that this is entirely your fault to begin with.”

She seemed to forget about Joan taking all the blame at the cable car. Or, perhaps, she just didn’t want to throw her step-sister under the bus like that. 

“Excuse me?”

“And now,” Cathy went on, overpowering Anne with her barbed tone. The gritting of her teeth quickly replaced the image of an owl with a timber wolf. “now you wantus to trust you when things are really bad? YOU made Joan bring the radio- over twenty messages in all caps if I remember being told correctly. YOU brought us here!”

“Come on, guys, calm down!” Joan attempted to step in. “This is nobody’s fault! And if it is going to be someone’s fault, let it be mine. I already owned up to it! So...there! Blame is on me! Blood is on my hands!” Saying that last part made a sick feeling of fear coil deep in her stomach.

“Yeah, this isn’t very, uh,” Kitty tries to help cool things down, too. “Productive.”

But their efforts were in vain. Anne was pissed off, now. And Joan knew better than anyone that her anger was a deep, dark, long-running thing. The blonde steps back and pulled Kitty with her, as if she thought her friend may actually explode.

“It should be obvious that you’re the only weirdo here,” She said, going after Cathy with words laced in sickly green venom. “You are throwing all of this out of whack! We,” She gestures for her, Kitty, and Joan, “all grew up together!”

“Guys, please calm down.” Joan spoke up again. Her presence is finally reminded to the fuming pair, but not in the way she had wanted.

“Joan, I am not putting my life in this freak’s hands!” Cathy spat. She wasn’t going after Joan, in fact her eyes softened when she began talking to her step-sister, but her voice remained spiky and wrapped in shards of glass. “This entire night has been nothing but a joke to her! I mean, did you hear the first thing she said to us back up at that way station?” She does a terrible impressions of Anne’s voice, “‘I thought you were a werewolf’- like, what the fuck is up with that?! How are you even defending this bimbo?”

“Cathy!” Kitty yelped. Her eyes are wide in alarm and she glances nervously over at her cousin. She took another step back, this time being to one to pull Joan with her. It was as if she saw smoke wreathing out of Anne’s nostrils or something. 

“I know you said Anne was ‘harmless’ or whatever, but the bitch ate two fucking weed brownies! In a crisis situation!” Cathy was working herself up to a proper temper. Her face was flaming red with rage, which was impressive given her darken skin color. “I’m done giving her passes. And you should, too.”

“I don’t need a pass from you.” Anne growled. “Joan is my best friend.” 

That comment cut Joan deep in the heart. She had been mentally siding with Cathy, the girl did have a point, plus she was her new sister and she feared not going along with her would completely shatter their relationship, but Anne was right. They were best friends. They had been together since Joan was fostered by her mum and moved to the girl’s city. 

God, she wished she didn’t have to be there right now. The ghosts were one thing, but this? She did not sign up for her relationships breaking into pieces right before her eyes.

“Oh yeah? Well, Joan is MY best friend!” Cathy barked back. 

“Guys, please!” Joan shouted. “Stop it! Stop fighting!”

“Yes. Please.” Kitty agreed softly. 

“Listen, I don’t care what Cavewoman Cathy says—“

“What is that?!”

“—there is a boat at Maggie Lee’s house. And the key is back on Main Street.” Anne went on, ignoring Cathy’s stupid, flabbergasted expression.

“And when your plan fails spectacularly, two of us are going to have to stay here with the semi-functioning walkie talkie.” Cathy said, crossing her arms.

“Well, Joan has the radio.” Anne also crossed her arms. If she was trying to make herself seem more mature or maybe was just trying to mimic and mock Cathy, neither Joan nor Kitty knew. “Are you okay to go to town?” She looks around Cathy’s hulking figure to look at her friend.

“Yeah,” Joan said. Sure, her throat sort of stung from yelling and the start of a panic attack was boiling up in her chest a welting sore, and there was also the whole being-wet-in-the-freezing-cold-night and persistent, never ending headache thing, but she chose to keep that to herself. “I’m fine. Ready whenever.”

“She shouldn’t go alone.” Kitty jumped back in. “Three of us don’t need to stay up here.”

“Right. I’ll go!” Anne volunteered quickly. “It was my brilliant idea in the first place.”

“Are you serious? Your food is going to kick in at any second and then you really will be a completely unreliable bimbo.” Cathy said.

“I am not a bimbo!” Anne snarled.

“Aaaagh! Stop it!” Joan growled. Her own anger was starting to bubble inside of her.

After her plea, Cathy rounds on her.

“Keeping in mind who has been with you this entire night—“

“Keeping in mind who you’re tired of!” Anne cut in.

“Keeping in mind who’s taller!” Cathy said louder. “Who do you want going with you?”

It was all so overwhelming. Joan wished they could all just go as a group, surely that was safer, anyway, but it was also just wishful thinking. If Cathy and Anne tried to get down from the tower together, Joan was sure somebody was gonna get pushed off.

She feels that coil in her stomach tighten and tighten and tighten. It becomes a painful sensation in her gut that she has no other choice but to-

“Cathy, let’s go.”

Cathy sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

“What?!” Anne cried. It was clear she hadn’t been planning for Joan to not pick her. “Why?! Why her?”

“We’re still doing your plan,” Joan said gently, hoping to cool her friend down. “Who cares about who’s on the Home and Away team?”

“But I wanna be on the Joan team.” Anne said. Her eyes looked genuinely hurt. Joan’s heart pinches painfully in her chest. “I wanna feel like— like— needed.”

The pinch gets tighter until it feels like two slim claws are trying to pull her aorta right out of her chest. 

Joan tried to speak, tried to make her friend feel better, but Anne just sighed and shook her head.

“Just— just, fine, whatever. Go have fun, you two.” She said. 

“It’s not supposed to be fun. That’s the point.” Cathy rolled her eyes.

“Oh god, will you just shut up?” Anne hissed.

“Okay, before things get stupid again,” Kitty said. “Good luck with the whole key thing. We’ll be waiting, guys.”

“Thanks, Kit. You’re the best.” Joan smiled at Kitty, who manages to give her one back. “But...are you gonna be okay with...the girl?”

Kitty actually laughed. “I’ll be fine. She’s just cranky.”

“I’m not cranky!” Anne grumbled from where she was very obviously sulking.

“I’ll take care of her!” Kitty assured Joan, who nodded and made her way out of the cabin with Cathy on her heels.

The trek down from the tower was silent. In fact, neither sister spoke until they were past the gate and back into the field. 

“Look,” Cathy sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go that far back there.”

“Mmm.” Joan merely replied. She wasn’t ignoring Cathy per se, rather putting more attention on the darkness that lurked on the path to Main Street. She shivered.

“Okay, I’m just going to clear the air, alright? Just so Anne or whoever can’t say I was hiding it.” Cathy said. Joan glances back at her momentarily. “You may have heard that I was, uh, in jail?” 

Joan says nothing. She just keeps walking. It very clearly makes Cathy uneasy.

“Well,” She went on. “I never went to jail. But I did beat up a guy and go to juvenile detention for it.”

“Why’d you, uhh...why’d you do it?” Joan asked softly. The thought that her younger sister was now scared of her sent cold vines of fear creeping up through Cathy’s insides.

“My mum got sick.” She said, “And then she got really sick and this kid threw a baseball at my head, and yes he was joking, but I just kinda-“ She sighed. “I popped.”

“We all break sometimes.” Joan said. “I understand.”

“You do?” Cathy perked up a little.

“Yeah.” Joan nodded. “Trust me, I do.”

Cathy smiled a little.

“I’m glad.”

She and Joan continue their trek until they got to Main Street. Cathy was just about to ask if Joan was religious, and if she wasn’t if she was going to reconsider after that night, when she noticed a human shadow cast across the pavement.

“Oh my god, is that—“

Someone was sitting on one of the light posts, their legs swinging back and forth. 

“Catalina!”

Cathy and Joan rush up to the light, their eyes wide.

“She’s alive!” Joan said. “Man, I’ve never been so happy to see you in my l-“

Static.

Joan let out a short cry of pain as static filled her mind and vision seemed to glitch out like an old TV. When she looks up, Catalina’s eyes are glowing red.

“Oh no,” Cathy muttered, stepping back. “She’s doing- she’s doing the eye thing!” 

“Come on, Catalina, snap out of it! Look alive!” Joan tried. “Umm...hang in there, baby?” 

“Good try.” Cathy pat her shoulder.

Joan grit her teeth. She could feel the cold metal of the radio weigh heavily in her pocket. She has no choice but to slip it out and tune in.

102.3

The first triangle forms.

95.1

The second-

“NO!!”

Joan is falling, everything is upside down and she can’t see at all, but then she’s upright again and tottering in her spot like a newborn lamb. She winces. 

“You think you can control me?”  Catalina asked, tilting her head slowly. Her voice is like it had been back at Fort Milner, distorted and dark.

Cathy and Joan exchange nervous looks.

“What? No! We’re not trying—“

“No, you’re not trying!” Not-Catalina said. “You’re not trying at all!”

“¥ðµ håvêñ’† ¢håñgêÐ,” Said The Sunken. Their voices appear out of nowhere, origination from an unknown source. “ñð† å ßï†. ßµ† ¥ðµ’rê å £ïñê gïrl.”

“What— what more can we do?” Joan said desperately. “We’re barely holding onto our—“

“‘What more can you do?’”  Not-Catalina echoed mockingly.  “You can do your job, that’s for starters. You can be what you signed up for.”

“ 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 ’ 𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗𝕗 ,” Crackles the radio. “ 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕟𝕠 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕒 𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 .”

It just had to go and pipe in, didn’t it? What with Catalina- or Not-Catalina, Whatever the fuck she may be now, and those ghosts talking and all, the radio now chipping in only added to the intensity, and the terrible pressure pressing down on Joan’s skull.

“No more heart than a...” Not-Catalina’s voice trailed off and died. Her body fell like a rag doll from the lamppost. 

“Is she-?” Joan swallowed thickly. “Is she, um, alive?”

“I-I don’t-“

Not-Catalina, or Catalina, now, stirs, then sat up. She blinked her normal brown eyes at the duo standing above her.

“Are you okay?” Cathy asked. “Can you remember anything that just happened?”

“I’m fine. I can— I’m fine.” Catalina stood up, brushing away the hands reaching down to her for help. “And I... I remember Fort Milner...and you two.”

“That’s it?” 

“Well... I also remember that radio.” Catalina turns on Joan. “And I remember this being all your fault.”

-.-. --- ..- .-. .- --. . / .. ... / -. --- - / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / - .... . / .-- .- -.-- --..-- / -.. . .- .-. .-.-.-

The bonfire in front of the Main Street tunnel blazes slightly when Anne throws a few sticks into the flames. They get eaten away in seconds before Joan’s eyes, which are edged with a black blur. She blinked, smoke stinging them slightly, and looked up at the others. 

“Wait, it’s Catalina’s turn already?” Anne asked.

“Yes, it’s my turn.” Catalina said. “I’ve been waiting this whole time!”

“Hold on-“ Joan looked around. The ocean licking against the rocky edge to the street is but a black void behind her. She snaps her head forward again, preferring to look into the foggy abyss that was the closed down tunnel behind Catalina. “What’s going on again?”

“It’s Catalina’s turn.” Kitty said.

“Yeah, it’s Catalina’s turn.” Cathy nodded. 

“And you of all people should know what I’m not going at ask because I’m not going to waste it.” Catalina turned to Joan. “Joan. What did you do.”

Joan’s mouth hangs open like a fish out of water. Catalina’s judgmental stare does not pity her stunned expression.

“Tell me why my best friend, and your idiot best friend, and your new step-sister are all screwed.” 

“This isn’t her fault.” Cathy stepped in quickly, already knowing things were going to get riled up. 

“Cathy, I’m sorry, but you don’t know who you speak of, dear.” Catalina said. 

“Catalina, seriously, I can vouch for this,” Anne said. “This isn’t her fault.”

“It has to be her fault, of course it’s her fault.”

Joan clenched her fists. The numbness in her fingers dissipates for a moment. Bubbling anger feels hot in her belly.

“Why?” Joan snapped. “Why does it  have to be my fault?”

“Why does it have to be your fault? Are you serious?”

Joan clenches her jaw, glaring daggers at Catalina.

“You’re gonna learn, Cathy, I swear to god. The whole town looks at her like she’s got a fucking Scarlet Letter tattooed on her forehead, and the giant, lit up, Christmas tree reason why is that Maria is dead because of her!”

A near subzero sensation spreads through Joan’s entire body, and not because of the temperature outside. Then, the chill is overcome by molten lava-like fury that bubbles up like pus from an abscess. 

“It would take a really sick person to see it that way, and I would love to hear your explanation!”

“Maria was going to be free! She was going to be out of here until this one convinced her to go swimming one last time.” Catalina stopped her pacing. Her eyes are cold and hard. “And she drowned. Maria drowned, while this one could barely flap her arms.”

All eyes turned to stare.

“That doesn’t make it my fault!” Joan cried. “Anyone could have been there— anyone—and then they would’ve watched her  die , you unbelievable cunt!”

“‘Anyone’ wouldn’t have watched her die, Joan. Anyone else would have done something!” Catalina snapped back.

“Okay, enough!” Cathy steps in between the two. “Seriously. I can’t even believe we’re talking about this right now.”

“Cathy,” Joan scampered up to Cathy like a lost lamb would to its mother. She grips tightly to her step-sister’s sleeve. “Cathy, it was awful— it’s still awful... I-“

Cathy set a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I know. It’s okay, I know. But right now we’re going to break into that office, find that key, an we’re going to go home.”

“No.”  Catalina said.

Cathy snapped her head around to the older girl. Her teeth are gritted. She’s clearly had enough.

“No?” She echoed, anger lacing her voice. “What do you mean, no?”

“Aagh!!” Pain lances through Joan’s head. Then Cathy’s head. Then Anne and Kitty’s. Catalina began to float into the air.

“All the outs in free.....”

What happens next is nothing short of a whirlwind. Cathy and Joan get jarred out of the time loop and, like the many times before, Cathy only has vague memory of being in it. However, by the pale, shaken expression on her step-sister’s face, she knew it couldn’t have been good.

When she asks, Joan says she doesn’t want to talk about it.

They break into the park building and find the key in the form of another pocket radio, this one with more stations. 

It does not feel right in her hands.

As they’re walking back to meet up with the others, Cathy reads off a letter written by Maggie Lee, which talks about how the history of Edward’s Island was a lie and how she buried these secrets all over the area. The letter ends and, after the sister discussing the news, Cathy began to say something else as they passed the path that led down to the beach.

“Joey, why are you wearing that jacket? It’s, like, seventy-five degrees and the sun’s out!”

“What? It’s cold—“

Soft, fuzziness floods her mind. Her vision distorts, but her body doesn’t seem to react. Her muscles are calm...relaxed. She’s at peace for the first time that night.

“—and the sun is only kinda out.”

“No, see! Look! Sunlight!”

A voice ahead laughs. “Maria, we didn’t bring drinks.”

Joan was giggling, too, but then the noise catches painfully in her throat. 

“Wait— Maria?!”

Her older sister grins at her. Her curly hair is done back in a rare ponytail- she usually prefers to have it down and frame her face in a way that makes her look like a lion. The smile painted on her pink lips would make even the sun jealous of its perfect glow.

“The one and only!” She chirped. At her side, Catalina chuckles lovingly.

“Where- where’s Cathy?!” Joan looked around frantically. That panic attack from before starts to rise up again, desperate to overcome her.

“Cathy? Who’s Cathy?” Catalina asked curiously. Her voice is so sweet when she talks to Joan, not laced with hidden poison or barbed with vision sarcasm, but genuinely loving towards the younger girl. “Is someone else coming?”

“Yeah, is that a friend of yours?” Maria added.

“You wanna know who Cathy is?” Joan grits. She’s tired of losing her every single hour. “She’s my new step-sister.”

She sees Catalina and Maria’s eyes widen.

“Now do you know what’s happening?”

She thinks they get it, but then Catalina and Maria began to laugh. They continued their trek down to the beach and Joan’s legs follow them without her command.

“Okay, can you call your new friend your ‘best friend’ or something?” Maria asked, giggling. “‘Step-sister’ is kinda approaching into my territory.”

“Yeah, it’s like when my mum calls her cat her ‘special little lady.’ I mean, I’m standing right there!” Catalina put in. She looked so happy...and not evil.

“Wh— why— why am I here?” Joan squeaked. She’s getting weak in the knees. She thinks she was going to be sick.

“You said you wanted to go to the beach.” Maria said. 

“Good choice, too,” Catalina said. “Today turned out to be a flawless day.”

The nausea seems to melt away as they got down to the beach and stepped onto the sand. When Joan looked at the ocean, she felt no fear, no anxiety, no trauma-induced pain. Just...serenity and curiosity for the sparkling blue body of water. 

Her mind feels like it was melting, but the sensation sends a ripple of peace through her body, almost like morphine. She calms by degrees in a matter of seconds. To be honest, she can barely remember what she had been freaking out about moments earlier... Even when Maria proclaims she forget her phone on the ferry and Joan and Catalina left alone on the beach when she ran up to go get it, she felt no nervousness. 

She sat down across from Catalina.

“I’m glad we could do this today.” The older girl said. “I know you two are close and all I know it can be annoying to have the girlfriend around, but...”

Joan smiled slightly. “Yeah, I- I would love to. Really.”

Catalina beams. “I’m glad! And, hey, Mars loves you a lot. I mean, I’m sure you already know that, but seriously. She talks about you all the time.”

Joan giggled, blushing slightly. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Yeah, of course!”

“Had to fight the skipper for it, but he didn’t expect many squats I could do,” Maria said as she walked back over. 

All three girls laughed.

Catalina excuses herself after Maria got settled to go but some drinks up at the shop, leaving Maria and Joan alone.

“I’ve missed you,” Joan whispered. “I-I know we live in the same house and everything, but- I missed you, Mars.”

“Aww,” Maria cooed. “I missed you, too, JoJo. Also, hey, I know this was supposed to be our day, but I completely forget that I promised Catalina that I would do something with her. Thanks for chaperoning.”

“No problem.” Joan said.

“It’s really important to me that you like her, so tell me the truth. What do you really think of us being together?”

Joan didn’t even have to process the question.

“Stick with it. Stay with her.” She said. “If she makes you laugh, if she makes you smile...who am I to think otherwise?”

Maria lit up brightly. “Thank you! Good blessings and good tidings!” She and Joan laugh. “Hey, I’ve never noticed that that’s a good jacket. I should ask for it back. My new one sucks. Feels like I got...shoes on my arms or something.”

Joan pulled the soft grey jacket closer around her. “No way, bucko!”

“Bucko?” Maria laughed. “You haven’t called me that in years! Come here- let me at least see if it still fits.”

“Fine!” Joan groaned. “But even if it does, I’m not giving it back!”

Maria scoots over and reaches to grab the jacket when Joan takes it off. When their hands brush each other, everything cuts to static.


	5. im going to heaven with or without you

“Joan?”

Joan giggled in her daze, lolling her head back and forth across the sand. Except, the sand felt a lot harder than it should be…and it was so cold all of a sudden…and she couldn’t see the glow of the sunlight behind her eyelids.

“Joan!”

Joan’s body jolts awake for the second time that night. She sat up so quickly it sent a miniature gun salute popping and cracking up her spine.

“Joan? Are you okay?”

Cathy is kneeling beside her. She has her hand on her shoulder. Her eyes were deeply worried.

“You kinda- you kinda went weird for a few minutes.” Her sister said. “I thought I lost you.”

“No, I’m- I’m fine, Cath. Promise.“ Joan assured her.

“Nothing new hurts?”

“Nothing new hurts.”

Cathy nodded and stepped back, pulling Joan to her feet.

“What happened?” Cathy asked.

“I-” The words caught in Joan’s throat. The memory of what exactly went down flash through her mind. “I saw my sister again.”

Cathy’s eyes widen.

“Holy shit.” She said. “Okay- okay- explain it to me. Can you do that? Will you be okay to?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Joan nodded. “We were…we were on the beach on some random Saturday. Catalina was there. It was…amazing.”

Cathy got a sympathetic look in her eyes. “Was it good— I don’t even know how to say this without… I just wanna make sure you’re alright.”

So many emotions were whirling through Joan’s mind- sadness, grief, closure, pain, misery, anger, longing. There was too much for her to process and it made her brain feel like it was going to burst apart in her skull.

“It was good to see her again,” She whispered. “It just— it sucks that she’s not- she’s not here, I guess. That’s all.”

Cathy gave her a quick, but tight hug.

“It’ll all be over soon, Joan. Don’t worry.”

Joan nodded.

Now that she somewhat had her bearings collected, she and Cathy began moving again.

They met up with Anne and Kitty at the bottom of the hill leading up to the field. Just a few yards behind them, the Lee Estate gate looms behind them.

“Great! You didn’t, uh, die!” Kitty said.

“Did it work?” Anne asked. “Did you get the key?”

“Yeah, we got it,” Cathy answered. “It’s actually a radio. Apparently it can open mechanical locks or something. Show’em, Joan.”

Joan nodded and took out the new radio. She walked up to the gate, seeing a small mechanical plate with three pieces of a pyramid on it. She began to tune in and, on channel 56, the parts of the pyramid lit up.

The gate swung open.

“Cool!”

“Wow.”

“Neat!”

Those were the chimes from the other three.

“Please have a boat, please have a boat, please have a boat…” Anne muttered as they all passed into the Lee property.

The salty tang of the sea was as sharp there as it was on the beach. Land broke away and became a wooden boardwalk, which creaked loudly with each footstep pressed against the boards. The black ocean churned loudly below the four of them. It sent spirals of anxiety through Joan, but she tried to stamp them down.

“A boat!” Anne cried in relief. “Oh, thank god. The keys are probably inside the house, which is HUGE by the way!”

She was right. The house was big. How some old woman got the money to pay for it was beyond all of them.

After finding that the door was locked, but had a tune in symbol, Joan took out the radio.

She didn’t like how much she was having to use it.

**107.1**

“That is a nifty gizmo.” Anne said as they all herded inside.

Surprisingly, it was quite warm inside the house, which was a relief because the temperature was definitely dropping outside. The four teenager scampered through the foyer and to the living and dining area, where they were hoping to regroup and maybe find someone to eat or drink (none of them had noticed how hungry they were before). However, all they ended up finding was a figure in one of the armchairs.

“There you guys are!”

“Oh my god!” Cathy shrieked. “You scared me!”

“Catalina!” Kitty rushed up to the older girl, nearly knocking her over in a hug. “Jesus! I was so worried about you!”

Catalina blinked and stumbled, slightly stunned by the sudden contact, but then she laughed softly and stroked the top of Kitty’s head. The girl nuzzles her face even closer, tightening the hold.

“I’m okay, Kitty. I promise.” Catalina told her.

“Wait—”Joan said. “How…did you get in? The door was locked. Did you have a radio?”

“No, I didn’t have a radio.” Catalina said, looking at Joan absurdly. “The kitchen window was open. I climbed in.”

“And the fence?”

“I jumped it. I’m not as dainty as you think, Johanne.”

Joan scanned Catalina over. The older girl has always been an amazing liar, but she didn’t seem to be hiding anything…at that moment. She nodded softly.

“Alright, Catalina’s here, great!” Anne said. “Everyone start looking. Find something and hope that it helps.”

They break.

Joan and Cathy went upstairs, finding a string for a pulldown ladder, which Cathy very helpfully called a “cat toy”. They climb up it, finding a musty old attic and a chest in the far back.

A chest with a padlock.

“Of course.” Joan sighed, then muttered, “Paranoid old woman…” She walked back down the ladder and made her way to the exit of the house. “Hey, Cath. How are you doing?”

“How are you doing?” Cathy fired back at her.

“As crappy as everyone else.” Joan said. “I feel like I just got run over by a truck. With acid wheels.” She paused. “If that makes sense.”

Cathy laughed. “I got it. I think everyone feels the same. We’ll make shirts when we get home!” She quickened her pace to walk right beside Joan as they stepped off of the front porch. She placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “We’ll be okay.”

Joan can only manage a wry, barely-hopeful smile.

They walk down the front path and back down to the boardwalk. On their way to the basement, they stop by the boat docks to check in on Catalina and Kitty, who were having a friendly conversation to pass the time.

“Hey, Kit,” Joan said, walking up to the younger girl first.

Kitty smiled at her. “Hey.”

“How’s it going?”

“As steady as she goes.”

Kitty leaves it at that. Joan moves on to Catalina.

“Catalina.”

“Your Highness.”

Joan’s mind flashes back to the time loop in front of the tunnel, however she can’t muster up even an ounce of anger or rage. When she looks into Catalina’s eyes, so unloving, unlike in her flashback memory, any ember she may have conjured gets instantly smothered and replaced by freezing cold misery.

“For the eight hundredth time— and I don’t know why I have to keep trying to sell you on this, but here it goes— Maria wasn’t my fault.”

Catalina crossed her arms, and Joan prepared for a vicious hurl of flaming words, but she just sighed and looked dejectedly at the murky water. Maybe she’s imagining what it must have been like for Joan on that day.

“If that’s what you believe in, I guess.” She finally said.

There’s a momentary burst of flame, but a rock to the boardwalk from a particularly big ripple puts it out. Catalina looks upset, Joan realizes. She doesn’t know what to say to that, so she just turns and walks to the basement. Cathy trails quietly behind her.

“Find anything useful?” Joan asked, stepping inside the stale-smelling basement. Cathy goes to check out a desk as she speaks with Anne.

“Nothing yet, but the night’s still young.” Anne answered. She’s definitely calmed by degrees since the argument on the tower, but Joan can still see betrayal glinting behind her eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Joan pressed. She wanted Anne to know she still cared about her. “Physically, I mean. Everyone looks like they’ve got the flu.”

They were all pale- too pale for it to be healthy. It as if their blood was slowly being drained from her body as the night progresses, leaving it blanched and cold. The only color that remained on their faces were their eyes, although very dull and void, like scratched gemstones, and the pink flush that dusted their cheeks. There was the shaking, too- the incessant trembling of their limbs, but they all knew it wasn’t from the cold. Not really.

“Why do you care?” Anne snapped. She marches past Joan to inspect a projector. “Seriously,” She whips her head around to look at Joan. “why didn’t you let me go with you to Main Street? Did I do something that bad?”

The hurt in her eyes returns. The pinch against Joan’s aorta does, too.

“I’m sorry, Anne. I’m sorry.” Joan said. “I just thought you needed a breather. I mean, an hour earlier you were literally possessed!”

“That-” Anne processes it. “-it true. That is true. But it was still annoying!”

Joan went to say something else, but Anne turns away to dig through a shelf. She sighed and regrouped with Cathy, who managed to find a padlock code in a desk, so they make the hike all the way back up to the attic and opened up the chest.

Inside were the keys, which made Joan’s heart leap in joy, but also a map of the caves.

_“Tune into the signal.”_ Is what the page said and, as Joan was reading this as she and Cathy made their way back downstairs, a glitchy wave contorted the entire house.

Joan is back in the attic.

**“Joan…”**

That was Catalina’s voice.

**“Oh, Joan…”**

She was calling to her.

**“Come down here please. We have something we want to show you.”**

Joan didn’t want to move, she wanted to huddle up and hide in that attic until dawn, but she feared what would happen to her if she didn’t obey, so, slowly, she crept down the attic ladder.

Out of her peripheral vision, she notices two bodies- Anne in the study and Kitty in the bedroom. Joan rushes to her best friend first.

The spacebun girl is slumped low in a chair, her limbs completely limp and her head sagging.

“Anne, come on, babes! We got a boat to catch!”

Anne does not stir.

Joan goes to Kitty, next. The girl in sprawled in a position on the floor that looked painful. Her muscles were probably straining just to keep her in that form. Like she cousin, her eyes were shut.

“Kitty, let’s go! We gotta motor!”

Kitty does not move.

Joan hurried down the stairs. She found Cathy’s barely in a chair. Her legs were bent on the floor, and the only thing keep her body up was the way she was propped on the seat cushion.

“Come on, Cathy, I— I need you! Don’t blank out on me now!”

Cathy does not wake.

Joan backed up slowly. The thought that all three of them may have been dead hit her like a freight train.

**“Ah.”**

A voice from behind.

**“There you are.”**

Joan turned slowly.

There is Catalina, standing in the dining room. She almost looked normal. Aside from the glowing red eyes of course.

**“Now, we imagine you’re a bit confused.”** She said. **“But don’t fret. This will be the final part of your training, Joan.”**

“𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕤.” Chimed the radio in Joan’s pocket.

“Training?” Joan echoed. “I-I don’t want to be-“

**“You signed up for this, Johanne.”** Not-Catalina got her off.

“Ì§. Lêåvê. þð§§ïßlê.”

**“So please,”** Not-Catalina continued. **“I cannot bear your excuses, offspring.”** Her voice is flitted and splotched with stinging irritation.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Joan said. “How many times do you want me to say it? I had no idea what would happen!”

Not-Catalina held her hands up in a calming gesture, then set one on Joan’s shoulder. The touch was icy cold.

**“You have nothing to apologize for.”** She said. **“Trust us on that.”** Joan doesn’t budge beneath her hand. She goes on: “ **The test is easy. We-”**

Ninety-six figures appear all throughout the house, eyes glowing, bodies flickering in the darkness that holds them. They disappear as quick as they came.

**“-will speak of something we see in the house and you will go and find it. See? As simple and good-humored as your mother’s apple pie.”**

Joan doesn’t answer. Not-Catalina draws her hand back.

**“Let’s start off with something easy.”** She said. **“I spy with my little eye…radiation.”**

Joan jars out of her daze.

Catalina began to count down.

Joan started to search the house frantically. It was difficult having to pass by her friend’s bodies- she nearly tripped over Anne’s strewn-out legs.

Finally, as Not-Catalina hit three, she went with the only thing she could think of.

“Is it- are you talking about the TV?”

**“Very good! Well done!”** Not-Catalina praised. **“Now, next… I spy…a knot.”**

The countdown began again.

Joan searches, but she couldn’t find a damn knot anywhere in the house. It didn’t help that it felt like she was upside down again.

**“One.”**

Joan’s stomach coiled painfully.

**“Johanne. What a disappointment you’ve turned out to be.”**

A grandfather clock chimes loudly.

Cathy’s body began to shudder.

“No! Don’t do anything to her!”

But They didn’t listen.

In the blink of an eye, Cathy is gone.

**“Aw, your new sister.”** Not-Catalina cooed in pity.

“Bring her back!!” Joan cried. Tears edge her vision. “Right now!”

**“Oh, I’m sorry, dear.”** Not-Catalina said. “ **As they say- what’s done is done. And now, it’s time for the bonus round, Joan. Stay sharp. I spy a memory.”**

Joan’s mind flashes.

She staggers away from where Cathy used to be and up the stairs. Not-Catalina is watching her from the study, by Anne’s body, as she hobbles to the bedroom and stairs at a photo on the wall.

“The picture.” She croaks.

**“Very good. Very nice.”** Not-Catalina purred. She appears beside Joan and pats her head like you would a dog. **“That’s a picture of Margaret Lee and her friend, Anna. You see… you and your schoolyard chums are experiencing— well, this has sort of happened before.”** She turned her head to photo. **“Maggie and Anne tried to…sport with us many years ago. And, well…”**

Images flash by Joan’s eyes.

**“Only one survived.”**

Not-Catalina turned and began walking back down to the living room. She seems to drag Joan along by an unseen force.

**“But in the process, we discovered a way to return, so to speak.”**

They both stop.

**“It just takes a little time.”**

“What happened to Anna?” Joan asked softly.

**“Let’s just leave it at: the poor girl didn’t know what she was playing with. It doesn’t matter.”** Not-Catalina answered. **“The waves. It’s the waves, we think. And we will use those waves to absorb into your friends as sunlight blooms into flowers. And we will grow. And we will engulf.”**

Joan’s entire body felt as if it were just dunked in arctic waters.

“You— you can’t do that!” She cried. “Think about what you’re doing!”

**“We _can_ do that, Joan.”** Not-Catalina said. **“And what has seemed to your parents as eighty years has been eons to know an existence without life.”** Her words seep in before she begins again, **“** **We tried it too quickly with Anna, but now we know to wait…and soak.”**

Down down down- Joan is pushed deep into the ice waters. She’s frozen, unable to fight against this.

**“We has to keep you here, on the island. It will be a great honor, Joan, really…to carry us through this life.”** A wicked smile curls on Not-Catalina’s lips. **“And onto the next.”**

Joan backed away, but she knew running would do her no good.

“Please, just don’t do this,” She begged. “We’re— we’re not—”

**“It’s sad, I know, to lose the facility to feel…”** Not-Catalina said. **“…to _be_ , but…we have not felt anything for a very long time. And we’ll do whatever is necessary.”**

Not-Catalina chuckles at Joan’s horrified expression. She kneels to her height and leaned in close.

**“When our vessel dashed on the rocks we had until dawn.”** She said. **“So do you.”**

She pulled back suddenly.

**“We would spend our time wisely. And,”** She smiled, **“we thank you for your good service.”**

Joan’s vision blurs and she’s back in the attic. She trudged down the ladder and found three tape players in the place where her friend’s bodies used to be. She sluggishly cranked the handle of the top two, her mind far away, but when she walked downstairs and passed the large mirror, her reflection shifted.

She froze.

_**“Let Maria go out on her own.”**_ The Other-Joan said.

“Why— why does it even matter? She’s not— she’s not here.” Joan growled, but her reflection shifts again and it’s back to normal.

She sighed and went to the last tape player and cranked the handle.

Everything around her buzzed.

“Ugh…”

Kitty is on the floor in the foyer, with Anne and Cathy strewn out beside her. They all groan.

“I think I’m gonna be sick…” Kitty mumbled.

“Me first.” Anne said.

Joan wanted to leap into all of their arms, wanted to express how happy she was that they were no longer hollow shells of human bodies, but she couldn’t. She felt too dizzy, too nauseated, too scared to do anything besides slowly lower herself into one of the armchairs in the foyer. She propped her elbows up on her knees and held her head, letting everything that was said to her sink in fully.

They were going to die. Or maybe just become vessels for ghosts that will wear their skin like coats, and she isn’t sure what is worse.

“Did—” Cathy’s voice falters for a moment. “Did that just happen? With you and Catalina? That wasn’t a dream, right?”

“I wish it was.” Joan sighed. She raised her head, but found doing so more difficult than she expected- it was like her skull was now made out of the heaviest metal in existence.

“Catalina, she’s…” Kitty looked around. “Those weird nuclear submarine monsters took her to the caves. We have to go get her back!”

“Yeah, of course,” Joan nodded. “But how?”

“Maggie has a bunch of old military tapes in her basement,” Anne nodded. “I know there’s some slides on the tunnels dug all around this island. Maybe they’ll help?”

“Worth a shot.” Cathy said.

The four them walked out of the house and out the basement. The ocean was churning loudly, black waves rolling over one another like they were fighting for power over the sea. The boardwalk rocks treacherously, the boards practically threatening to cave in beneath the teenagers.

They all ducked into the basement and Anne went over to the projector while Joan grabbed a reel. They put it in.

The first slide to pop up was of two young women around their age or maybe in their early twenties reading a journal together. One has long, maybe brown hair (the slide wasn’t colored) and the other was dark-skinned with seemingly black short hair. They both seemed…happy.

“Oh god, if this is a prehistoric scrapbook…” Anne said.

“It’s cute! They’re learning!” Joan said. “But it doesn’t help us. So onto the next…”

The next slide shows the blueprints of a bunker up on the fields and the one after that is a sketch of the weird triangles.

“Woah, Maggie knew about those things?” Kitty said aloud. “That’s so weird…and creepy.”

They continued to search, eventually coming up with a plan: The bunker in the field leads right into the cave. To open it, Cathy and Joan would go into the Catbird Station in the woods and send a signal, then Kitty and Anne will wait for the door to open. Then, they’ll all regroup and the sisters would head inside and hopefully save the day.

It was a stretch, but it was all the got.


	6. as quiet as an empty church

“Well, the station’s at the top of the hill.” Cathy said. With a sigh, she adds, “I hope this works.”

“Me too.” Joan said.

They were back in the woods, back to pushing through brambles and branches to get to the area with the cable car. Their goal was the upper cabin they didn’t go to before, and they began hiking up to i-

\- …. . / …. — ..- … . / .. … / .- .-.. .. …- . / .- -. -.. / - …. . / …. — ..- … . / .. … / …. ..- -. –. .-. -.–

“Well, the station’s at the top of the hill.” Cathy said. With a sigh, she adds, “I hope this works.”

Joan felt like she wanted to cry or pull out her hair and scream- maybe both.

“It’s the thing again.” She mumbled sluggishly.

Cathy groaned. “We’re due, I guess. It’s been, like, a minute since the last one.”

They try to trek up to the hill to the Catbird Station again, but are sent right back to the bottom of the maintenance cabin. 

…. ..- – .- -. … / -.-. .- -. / .-.. .. -.-. -.- –..– / - — —

“Well, the station’s at the top of the hill.” Cathy said. With a sigh, she adds, “I hope this works.”

“Yep.” Joan agreed.

She tries again.

Cathy doesn’t say anything.

So she tries again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

But the tenth try, Joan’s head was splitting open and she was frustrated to the point where she was near tears. She backed up, ready to maybe charge up the path and hope she couldn’t be looped if she moved quick enough, but then she noticed something under the bridge.

Lightning cracks and lit up the horribly bloody and disfigured shape of Anne’s body impaled on the rocks.

She’s strung by the stomach, gouging it wide open and letting her long, gooey intestines hang out. Her skull, which must have hit against one of the rocks, is split and her brains are revealed to the cool night air. Blood is practically soaking the entirety of the stone her corpse is stuck on, turning the river water below a sickly shade of red.

Kitty is on the other side of the bank, sitting on the shore with her head buried in her knees. She couldn’t bear to see the sight of her dead cousin.

Joan can’t breathe. She can’t even muster up the will to cry; she’s too mortified. Shock sets in fast.

“Kitty,” Cathy said as they both slowly approached the scene. The smell of blood and entrails was thick in the air. “What happened? What happened to Anne?”

Kitty snapped her head up. There are tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Anne’s— she’s— she had an accident, she— she died. I couldn’t—”

“Oh my god.” Joan whispered. Her knees wobble, then buckle; she’s on the ground.

“What happened?” Cathy asked.

“She—”

Joan’s vision bugs out. Anne’s bloated, waterlogged corpse is in front of her, skin grey, eyes clouded, mouth open in a frozen horrified expression and leaking water.

“She drowned.”

Joan’s vision bugs out.

“She—”

Anne is standing at the top of the guard rail on the bridge. She spreads her arms and falls backwards. The blood splatter splashed out onto Joan.

“She fell.”

Joan’s vision bugs out.

“She—”

Anne is nowhere to be seen.

“I don’t know… She just…stopped.”

Joan’s vision bugs out.

And then it twists and shifts and everything bleeds together. Starbursts and fireworks explode beneath her eyelids and her brain rattled viciously inside of her skull to the point where she thinks it may just fly right out. When she pries her heavy eyes open again, she’s standing in the maintenance shack in the dark. A storm is raging outside. The only light comes from the claps of lightning and Cathy’s red glowing eyes.

 **“I mean, does it really matter what happened?”** She asked. **“Either way, done is done.”**

“I know you’re not really Cathy.” Joan grits.

 **“Soon, it won’t be a pretense. It will be an absolute.”** Not-Cathy said, and her words ooze from her lips like thousands of spider. **“Joan, we know you’re in charge and we know your plan and we also know that your plan won’t work. It never does.”** A smile twitches on her horribly pale lips when Joan shivered. “ **So, we have a proposition for you.”**

“Like what?” Joan pressed.

The door behind Not-Cathy swung open, not affected by the power of the howling winds outside. She turned smoothly and walked right out into the freezing rain. Joan has no choice but to follow, and she gets drenched instantly. The cold bites her right down to the bone.

 **“It’s over for Catalina, she’s gone.”** Not-Cathy began to say. **“We’ll pilot her through the rest of existence, and** **there’s nothing you can do to change that.”** She glances over her shoulder and smirked at the shivering girl below her. **“But…if you agree to let us take her, quietly, without a fuss…we won’t slaughter the rest of your friends like you did young Reginald, here.”**

They stop at the bridge. Anne’s corpse rots below them.

**“We will leave the rest of your cattle alone.”**

“No.” Joan’s voice is firm and hard, even with the underlying laces of fear. “No way. I’m saving everyone!”

Not-Cathy laughed. **“Courage isn’t always the answer, dear.”**

Joan shrunk back. Her drenched, ruined grey jacket chafes uncomfortably against her back.

 **“You don’t have much time left.”** Not-Cathy said. **“Do you know how we know you don’t have much time left?”**

Joan is quiet, even when she’s egged on with hums to answer.

 **“We know,”** Not-Cathy went on, **“Because we can be Cathy for this long… and her soul’s as quiet as an empty church.”**

Joan’s vision starts to bug out-

“Jµ§† ñêvêr §å¥. Wê ÐïÐñ’† þrðvïÐê ¥ðµ. Äll. †hê rµlê§.”

-but this time it’s so much worse than all the other times before. It feels as if someone was taking a knife and stabbing it into her ears over and over and over again until brain matter is spilling out. She can barely get her eyes to focus after the looping sequence ends, but she recognizes that she’s back in front of the maintenance cabin, Cathy is gone, and there’s three tape players on the bridge.

Her legs feel like sticks of lead when she moves them to walk.

She winds up two of three tape players when she notices Kitty huddled beneath a lamppost with her head in her knees. Before she goes to the last one, she checks on the younger girl.

“I know she was your best friend, Joan.” Kitty said before Joan could even say something to her. “I— I’m sorry. I don’t— I don’t know what happened… One moment she was just there, and then she was…” The image of Anne’s corpse seemed to flash in her eyes like it did for Joan. “Gone.”

Joan wanted to yell at Kitty. She wanted to scream at her, slap her, spit on her, throw her stupid body off the bridge for payment for not saving Anne, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t needed.

“You were her cousin.” Joan whispered.

Kitty scoffed sadly. “You knew Anne better than I ever have.” Fresh tears stream down her cheeks when she realizes that she’ll never get the chance to know her cousin like that anymore. “I liked what I got to know of her.”

“If she can hear you right now,” Joan said. Her voice is breaking and the tears finally spill free. “She’d be over the moon.”

Kitty sniffled.

Joan moved on.

She winds the last tape player and lets the loop embrace her.

“Well, the station should be at the top of-“ Cathy’s voice halts and she gagged. “Ugh… I feel like I just ate a tree…”

Joan is still soaked, even though the rain is gone and nothing is wet anymore. She shivered and uselessly pulled her jacket closer.

“You were possessed.” She said. “It was the longest it’s been before.”

“Yeah, I can…kinda remember that part.” Cathy said. She notices her sister shivering, so she takes off her beanie and puts it on Joan’s head.

_“Hello?”_

The loudspeaker crackles.

_“Hellooo?”_

“Oh, they’re broadcasting from the station speaker somehow.” Cathy said as she and Joan made their way up to Catbird. She smiled slightly at both of the cousin’s babbling over the com and Joan’s wonder at getting to wear her beanie.

They get to the top at Kitty and Anne tell them about how they were ready to go at the bunker. Joan clicks on the microphone at the control panel.

“Hello,” She said. “Hello, we are here.”

After a quick joke- which, in hindsight, was pretty inappropriate at the time being, but they all needed it- Joan flicks a switch on the board.

 _ **“Signal Verified.”**_ Said a mechanical voice on the panel. _**“Shelter TF1 Open.”**_

 _“Great!”_ Kitty said.

 _“Alright, hurry back, you two!”_ Anne added.

The sisters exit the station and begin walking out of the woods when-

**“I have an idea, Mr. Jordan. Can we make him reborn?”**

Joan whipped around.

Cathy’s eyes are solid red.

“Cathy!!” Joan cried.

Cathy blinked and her eyes are back to normal.

“Okay okay okay, I’m— god, I really hate that!”

“It’s getting worse, Cathy.” Joan whispered. “I think we’re running out of time.”

Cathy swallowed thickly. She nods slowly.

“Yeah…” She mutters. “Hey, I— I don’t want to get all sappy on you, but… I just want you to know that it would have been nice living with you and ending high school by your side.” If she’s about to cry, she’s really good at hiding it. “I’m just…glad I met you that’s all.”

Joan bites her quivering bottom lip. She doesn’t want to cry, not again, but her sister is making that near impossible.

“I’m just glad we met.”

Joan reaches down and takes Cathy’s hand as they walked to the shelter together.

“Me too.”

Cathy smiled at her softly.

They continue the rest of the walk in silence, hand-in-hand.

They meet up at the cousins in front of the bunker. There was no time for them to spare, so they cut right to the chase.

“The bunker won’t open back up once we’re in.” Cathy said. “Anne, Kitty, don’t wait for us. Find someplace safe to stay…or hide. Main Street might be a good idea.”

“Yeah,” Joan nodded. “If the ferry comes, get on it. Leave. Don’t wait for us.”

Anne and Kitty just nodded quietly.

“Ready to go?” Cathy asked her sister.

“Yeah. Just-”

Joan walked up to Anne and hugged her tightly. Anne hugged her back and she can feel her friend’s tears splatter on her shoulder.

“We’ll be back, Annie.” Joan whispered. “I promise.”

Anne sniffled and wiped her eyes. She squeezed Joan’s forearm with one hand tightly.

“You better.”

Joan goes to Kitty next and hugs her, too. The younger girl clearly wasn’t expecting it, but she accepts the embrace.

“Go bust some ghost heads.” She tells her softly.

Joan manages a laugh. “Will do.”

Then, she hugs Cathy before they both go to the bomb shelter door. They turn to Anne and Kitty and the true peril of the situation only really sets in when the cousins spring forward and pull all four of them into a big group hug.

“We love you guys.” Anne choked out through a sob. “Come back. Please come back.”

“We love you, too.” Joan whispered.

“This isn’t goodbye.” Cathy added.

And then the heavy bomb shelter door shuts and they’re engulfed by darkness.


End file.
